Gabriele Rossetti
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Who was Gabriele Rossetti?
Gabriele Rossetti (1783ā1854) was an Italian poet, revolutionary, and scholar. He is known for his esoteric interpretation of Dante Alighieri and as the father of talented children, including Dante Gabriel, all born in England after Gabriele fled his native land as a political refugee.
After King Ferdinand II revoked the constitution in 1821, Rossetti, a member of the revolutionary society Carbonari, was sentenced to death. He escaped to England in 1824 and supported himself by teaching Italian. In 1831, his antipapal stance led to his appointment as professor of Italian at Kingās College, London.
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Where was Gabriele Rossetti from?
Gabriele Rossetti was born in Vasto, in the Kingdom of Naples (now Italy), on February 28, 1783. He was the son of a blacksmith and studied at the University of Naples. Rossetti worked as a librettist at the San Carlo opera house and was later appointed curator of ancient marbles and bronzes at the Capodimonte Museum in Naples.
Due to his membership in the revolutionary society Carbonari and his opposition to Ferdinand II, the tyrant king of Naples, Rossetti was sentenced to death. He fled to England in 1824.
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What kind of work did Gabriele Rossetti do?
Gabriele Rossetti was an Italian poet, revolutionary, and scholar, known as the father of talented children. Rossetti was also a librettist at the San Carlo opera house in Naples, and he later became curator of ancient marbles and bronzes at the Capodimonte Museum.
After fleeing to England as a political refugee, he supported himself by giving Italian lessons and writing a commentary on Danteās La divina commedia. His antipapal sentiment led to his appointment in 1831 as professor of Italian at Kingās College, London, a post he held until 1847.
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Why was Gabriele Rossetti important in Italian literature and scholarship?
Gabriele Rossetti was an Italian poet, scholar, and revolutionary, born February 28, 1783, in Vasto, Kingdom of Naples. He is known for his esoteric interpretation of Dante Alighieri. In 1831, his antipapal work, Disquisitions on the Antipapal Spirit Which Produced the Reformation, led to his appointment as professor of Italian at Kingās College, London, where he taught until 1847. Rossetti's eccentric interpretations of Dante are now unacceptable, but he transmitted his love of Italian poetry and his reverence for Danteās La vita nuova and La divina commedia to his children.
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What were some major ideas or themes in Gabriele Rossettiās writings?
Gabriele Rossetti, an Italian poet, revolutionary, and scholar, is known for his esoteric interpretation of Dante Alighieri. He was also known for his spirited verses on contemporary politics.
Rossetti claimed that The Divine Comedy was written in the code language of a humanistic secret society that was opposed to political and ecclesiastical tyranny. His eccentric interpretations of Dante are now considered unacceptable.
Rossetti transmitted his love of Italian poetry and his reverence for Danteās La vita nuova and La divina commedia to his sons and daughters.
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How did Gabriele Rossetti influence future generations, including his children?
Gabriele Rossetti, an Italian poet and scholar, significantly influenced future generations, most notably his own children Maria Francesca, Dante Gabriel, William Michael, and Christina Georgina. He transmitted to them his love for Italian poetry, especially his reverence for Danteās La vita nuova and La divina commedia.
The Rossetti family was known for their unusual intelligence and familiarity with both English and Italian literary traditions. United by close affection, they shared talents and creative gifts. Christina became one of the most important English women poets. Though his interpretations of Dante are now considered eccentric, Gabriele's passion for Italian poetry shaped his children's literary sensibilities and creative paths.
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Gabriele Rossetti (born Feb. 28, 1783, Vasto, Kingdom of Naples [Italy]ādied April 24, 1854, London, Eng.) was an Italian poet, revolutionary, and scholar, known for his esoteric interpretation of Dante but best known as the father of several talented children, all of whom were born in England, to which he had fled as a political refugee from his native land.
Rossetti was the son of a blacksmith and was clever enough to be able to study at the University of Naples. In 1807 he was librettist at the San Carlo opera house in Naples and was later appointed curator of ancient marbles and bronzes in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples.
He frequently improvised spirited verses on contemporary politics; one indignant outburst directed against Ferdinand II, the tyrant king of Naples who had revoked the Constitution in 1821, added to Rossettiās membership in the revolutionary society Carbonari, provoked the sentence of death. After a time in hiding, he escaped to England via Malta in 1824. There he supported himself by giving Italian lessons and wrote a commentary on Danteās La divina commedia (The Divine Comedy), of which only two volumes were published (1825 and 1826).
In Sullo spirito antipapale che produsse la Reforma (1831; Disquisitions on the Antipapal Spirit Which Produced the Reformation), Rossetti claimed that The Divine Comedy was written in the code language of a humanistic secret society that was opposed to political and ecclesiastical tyranny. This workās antipapal character led to his appointment in 1831 as professor of Italian at Kingās College, London, a post he held until 1847, when his sight was seriously impaired.
In 1826 he had married Frances Mary Lavinia Polidori, deemed the cleverest and best looking of four daughters of another Italian teacher and man of letters, Gaetano Polidori, Tuscan by birth but Londoner by adoption.
When Rossetti became professor, he received fellow exiles, busied himself with propaganda for a liberally governed and united Italy, and continued publishing his own poetry and such treatises as La Beatrice di Dante (1842), which interpreted Beatrice as the symbol of Danteās soul. Rossettiās eccentric interpretations of Dante are now considered unacceptable, but he transmitted his love of Italian poetry and in particular his reverence for Danteās La vita nuova and La divina commedia to his sons and daughters.
There were four Rossetti children: Maria Francesca (b. Feb. 17, 1827ād. Nov. 24, 1876); Gabriel Charles Dante, who later called himself Dante Gabriel; William Michael; and Christina Georgina. All were born in London and baptized in the Church of England. The Rossetti family was a remarkable group. All its members were endowed with unusual intelligence, were equally at home with the languages and literary traditions of both England and Italy, and were united among themselves by close ties of affection and mutual understanding. The talents and characteristics they shared were combined with creative gifts of a high order.
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