Juan Manuel Fernández Pacheco, 8th Duke of Escalona
Juan Manuel Fernández Pacheco y Zúñiga, Duke of Escalona and Marquess of Villena, was a Spanish aristocrat, politician, and academician who founded the Royal Spanish Academy.
The Duke of Escalona in an 18th century painting
The Royal Spanish Academy is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with national language academies in 22 other Hispanophone nations through the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language.
Inauguration of the RAE building in Madrid by Alfonso XIII, 1894
Title page of Fundación y estatútos de la Real Académia Españóla (Foundation and statutes of the Royal Spanish Academy) (1715)
Partial view of the library at the RAE
View of the front facade of the RAE building