José Antonio Conde

José Antonio Conde y García (28 October 1766–12 June 1820) was a Spanish Orientalist and historian of Al-Andalus period. His Anacreon obtained him a post in the royal library in 1795. He also published several paraphrases of Greek classics. These were followed in 1799 by an edition of the Arabic text of Muhammad al-Idrisi's Description of Spain, with notes and a translation. As an afrancesado, he fled Spain in 1813, but returned a year later and was eventually reinstated to his honors. His magnum opus, the three-volume Historia de la Dominación de los Árabes en España, was published after his death.

Career

Conde was educated at the University of Alcalá. He published a translation of the works of the Greek poet Anacreon in 1795. In 1796–1797, he published paraphrases from Theocritus, Bion, Moschus, Sappho and Meleager. In 1799, these were followed by an edition of the Arabic text of Muhammad al-Idrisi's Description of Spain, with notes and a translation, making him among the first modern western historians to translate an important Arabic text. Conde became a member of the Spanish Academy in 1802. He succeeded Tomás Antonio Sánchez de Uribe to the so-called G seat. Conde was a member also of Academy of Sciences and Letters of Berlin.

In 1804, Conde was accepted to membership of the Royal Academy of History, but his appointment as interpreter to Joseph Bonaparte and his being an afrancesado (French sympathizer) led to his expulsion from both the Academy of History and the Spanish Academy in 1814. He escaped to France in 1813, but returned a year later. He was not permitted to reside at Madrid until 1816. Two years later he was re-elected to his former seats by both academies.