Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spanish playwright and poet (died 1681)

Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño was a Spanish dramatist, poet, and writer. He is known as one of the most distinguished poets and writers of the Spanish Golden Age, especially for the many verse dramas he wrote for the theatre. Calderón has been termed "the Spanish Shakespeare", the national poet of Spain, and one of the greatest poets and playwrights in the history of world literature.