JOVELLANOS AND THE SEVILLE ECONOMIC SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OF THE COUNTRY. THE FORGING OF AN ENLIGHTENMENT SCHOLAR.
As heir to enlightenment ideals of Pablo de Olavide, Seville’s Economic Society of Friends of the Country (here on, the Seville Economic Society) quickly became an important centre for the research, dissemination and application of new economic ideas in Seville and its Kingdom. Its goal was to promote the local and regional economy by transferring knowledge and creating social wealth. Following its foundation in 1775, it gathered a significant number of Seville’s intellectuals, providing them with a meeting place and a sounding board for their ideas and writings, and developed into a true school of enlightenment. In this paper we analyse the transformation of one of its members, Melchor Gaspar de Jovellanos, whose work between 1775 and 1778 made him one of the most active members of the Seville Economic Society. This will allow us to observe the forging of an enlightened scholar who was to become the maximum representative of the so-called third generation of Spanish enlightened thinkers. Our work provides answers to four questions: 1)Who and what influenced Jovellanos’ intellectual transformation? Specifically, what factors made him distance himself from his scholastic education, pushing him towards new European schools of thought. 2)What role did Jovellanos play in the foundation of the Seville Economic Society (1775-1777)? 3)As a member of the Seville Economic Society, what were Jovellanos’ most relevant studies and actions between 1775 and his departure to the Court in Madrid in 1777? 4)What theoretical principles inspired his work at the Seville Economic Society? Our work is based on several primary sources: Book 1 of the Seville Economic Society’s Proceedings (1775-1780), the Book of Correspondence (1775-1779) and various unorganized papers from the Archive of the Seville Economic Society. Among others, we highlight the “Proposal by D. Gaspar de Jovellanos for the establishment of a branch of the Economic Society in Cádiz” (Seville, May 21 1778), among other
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Keywords: Economic history, Enlightenment, Jovellanos, Seville Economic Society of Friends of the Country.