Don Miguel de Manara
If you don’t know the story of Don Juan, then you almost certainly know the name. Indeed, it’s become short-hand the world over for a womanizer. The character dreamt up by the Spanish writer Tirso de Molina in the 1630s was certainly a scoundrel. In the famous book, Don Juan uses his wealth and charms to seduce countless women. The father of one of his conquests, a man by the name of Gonzalo, seeks to defend his daughter’s honor. However, Don Juan kills him. He then walks past Gonzalo’s tomb and mockingly asks his statue to dinner. Much to the protagonists’ shock, Gonzalo’s statue comes to life, accepts the dinner invitation and then proceeds to drag Don Juan down into the flames of hell.
The story makes for great reading, but was there a real Don Juan? Almost certainly. According to most experts, Tirso de Molina based his most famous character on a chap by the name of Don Miguel Manara. And this real-life version was every bit the playboy. Born into great wealth in Seville in 1627, he was a carefree youth. Even though he married at an early age, he indulged in countless affairs, picking up women in the ancient, narrow streets of Seville and gaining a reputation as an insatiable lothario.
But wait! As critics of the story point out, the Don Juan book was penned when Miguel was just a child. True. In a nice twist, the history books show that Miguel was an impressionable 14-year-old when he saw a play based on the book performed in his city. Rather than taking it as a warning against promiscuity, he saw it as a lifestyle guide and immediately set about becoming a seducer of women. As the decades and centuries passed, the two stories became so interlinked that Miguel was widely credited with being the original Don Juan.
In real life, Miguel had a rude awakening. His wife died just a few years into their marriage. So struck with grief was he that Miguel turned to religion and devoted himself to caring for the sick and poor. He set up the Brotherhood of the Holy Charity, an organization that still helps people today, and for his work he was made a saint. It’s for this reason that we have a detailed account of his life, including his womanizing youth.