Boscán Almogáver, Juan

Boscán Almogáver, Juan (hwän bōskän` älmôgä`vĕr), c.1495–1542, Spanish poet. A Catalan aristocrat, Boscán was a literary figure at the court of Ferdinand V. He introduced Italian poetic forms into Spanish poetry, thus revolutionizing its traditional system of metrics. Among his compositions, written in different combinations of the 11-syllable line, are sonnets and canciones. He also translated Castiglione's Courtier. His works were first printed in 1543 together with those of his collaborator and friend Garcilaso de la Vega.