Fernando de Rojas

Fernando de Rojas (c. 1465/73, in La Puebla de Montalbán, Toledo, Spain – April 1541, in Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, Spain) was a Spanish author and dramatist, known for his only surviving work, La Celestina (originally titled Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea), first published in 1499. It is variously considered "the last work of the Spanish Middle Ages or the first work of the Spanish Renaissance". Jewish descent was not a bar to social advancement, and Rojas's family had been recognised as hidalgos for at least three generations.

Rojas studied law at the University of Salamanca, graduating around 1498. While at the university he began writing La Celestina (originally titled Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea), which was published in 1499. The work has been variously described as a drama, a dramatic poem, a dialogued novel, a novel-drama, and as 'ageneric' – a genre entirely of its own. It was never staged during Rojas's lifetime, but the majority of modern scholars consider it a drama.

On returning to the family home after leaving the university Rojas found his relations under scrutiny from the Inquisition; he himself was never suspected of Judaism.