biography
| name: |
Manzoni, Alessandro
|
pronunciation:
[mantsohnee]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1785–1873)
|
| biography:
| Novelist and poet, born in Milan, N Italy. He published his first poems in 1806. Anticlerical at first, he converted to Catholicism in 1810, soon marrying Enrichetta Blondel, and spent the next few years writing sacred lyrics and a treatise on the religious basis of morality. The work which gave him European fame is his historical novel, I promessi sposi (1825–7, The Betrothed), one of the most notable works of fiction in Italian literature, where for the first time the humble and down-trodden are the protagonists of a major work. Running through the novel is a strong faith in the powers of God. A strong advocate of a united Italy, he became a senator of the kingdom in 1860, and was given a state funeral when he died. Verdi composed his Requiem in Manzoni's honour. |
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