Giacomo Leopardi

Giacomo Leopardi, Count (June 29, 1798 – June 14, 1837) was a major Italian Romantic poet, often considered alongside Dante and Petrarch as Italy's greatest poets.

Life beyond Recanati

In 1822 his father allowed him to leave Recanati for a brief stay in Rome, but the poet was unhappy and could not find a suitable job. He was soon back in the palazzo, having lost his faith. The ornate celebrations of the Papacy's temporal power that he had seen in Rome were another disgusting element that prompted his return. Before leaving Rome, however, Leopardi had become well known, and his work was appreciated.

Related Topics:
1822 - Rome - Temporal power

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With the composition of his Operette Morali, Leopardi put into his works his saddest philosophical thoughts, and his historical pessimism (rationality as a cause for unhappiness) and his cosmic pessimism (nature as the source of human troubles because it gives illusions -- Ahi Natura, Natura, perché non rendi poi, quel che prometti allor?) were rendered in their complex entirety.

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In 1825 he finally left Recanati for Milan, where he started working for an editor, Fortunato Stella. Then he visited Bologna (vainly following the countess Teresa Malvezzi, who fascinated him) and Florence, where he met Alessandro Manzoni (the other great Italian poet of the century), Viesseux, and Gioberti. In Pisa he wrote A Silvia. In 1830 some friends provided him with a regular stipend, which allowed him to finally forget Recanati and establish himself in Florence. Here he fell in love (this time more seriously) with Fanny Targioni Tozzetti (another married woman), but his love was unrequited. In Florence he met Antonio Ranieri, a Neapolitan gentleman in exile, with whom he later visited Naples which his friend suggested would help him with its warm climate. In Naples he discovered a genuine passion for ice cream, the affection that Ranieri's sister Paolina showed him (in the Ranieris' villa Ferrigni on the slopes of Vesuvius), and the valued confidence of Basilio Puoti (the purista). He died of edema in Naples a few months later.

Related Topics:
1825 - Milan - Bologna - Teresa Malvezzi - Florence - Alessandro Manzoni - Pisa - 1830 - Antonio Ranieri - Ice cream - Basilio Puoti - Edema - Naples

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