abstract:La Celestina (often used as the title, synecdoche after a character of the same name), actually called Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea or Comedia de Calisto y Melibea, in English Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea and the old prostitute Celestina), is a work composed entirely in dialogue published by Fernando de Rojas in 1499. Rojas, a descendant of converted Jews, practiced law and, later in life, served as an alderman of Talavera de la Reina, an important commercial center near Toledo.