JUAN BAUTISTA DIAMANTE (1640 ?-1684 ?), Spanish dramatist, was born at Castillo about 1640, entered the army, and began writing for the stage in 1657. He became a knight of Santiago in 1660; the date of his death is unknown, but no reference to him as a living author occurs after 1684. Like many other Spanish dramatists of his time, Diamante is deficient in originality, and his style is riddled with affectations; La Desgraciada Raquel, which was long considered to be his best play,. is really Mira de Amescua's Judia de Toledo under another title; and the earliest of Diamante's surviving pieces, El Honrador de su padre (1658), is little more than a free translation of Corneille's
Cid. Diamante is historically interesting as the introducer of French dramatic methods into Spain.