Giosuè Carducci

Giosuè Carducci (1835-1907), Italian poet, critic, and teacher, generally regarded as the greatest Italian poet of the late 19th century. He was born in Val di Castello, Tuscany (Toscana), and educated at the University of Pisa. From 1860 to 1904 he was professor of Italian literature at the University of Bologna. Carducci was opposed to the papacy, the monarchy, and the romantic sentimentalism that dominated Italian literature at the time. He advocated a return to the pagan spirit in religion and a revival of the classical spirit and forms in literature. As a young man he frequently expressed his radical ideas in his poetry, but in his later years his writing became less polemical. He was the first to adapt successfully classical Latin meters to modern Italian verse.

In 1906 Carducci became the first Italian to receive the Nobel Prize for literature. Among his best works are New Rhymes (1861-87; trans. 1916), Pagan Odes (1877-89 trans. 1950), and Lyrics and Rhythms (1899; trans. 1942).