Lazarillo

Lazarillo commonly refers to Lázaro de Tormes, the titular narrator and hero of the 16th‑century Spanish novella Lazarillo de Tormes. The exact author is unknown, and the work is usually published under the title La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y desgracias. Published in the mid‑16th century, most scholars date it to around 1554 or 1555.

Content and form: The tale is told in the first person as an autobiographical chronicle of a poor boy born to a laborer who, to survive, serves a succession of masters—a blind beggar, a clerk, a priest, and others. Through cunning and wit, Lazarillo navigates social inequalities of Early Modern Spain. The episodes are episodic and satirical, mixing realism with moral critique. The work is often cited as one of the earliest and most influential examples of the picaresque novel.

Legacy: The Lazarillo is acclaimed for its stark portrayal of class structure, hypocrisy of institutions (church, nobility), and the rise of realism in literature. It influenced Cervantes and subsequent Spanish fiction, and it helped establish a template for serialized, episodic storytelling in which the protagonist's moral world is tested by harsh social conditions. It has been translated many times and remains a subject of literary study and adaptation.

Other uses: The name Lazarillo is Spanish diminutive of Lazarus and may appear in other contexts as a given name or nickname. In reference works, Lazarillo often specifically denotes the narrator of the Lazarillo de Tormes.