Italian Writers of Antiquity
Gnaeus Naevius (c. 275 BC - 201 BC) – The oldest Roman dramatist and the first author of an epic poem: Bellum Punicum.
Ennius (239 BC - 169 BC) – Called the “Father of Roman Poetry”. His most important work is Annales, an epic poem on the early history of the Ancient Rome.
Cato the Censor (234-149 BC) – The first writer of Latin prose and the first author of a history of Italy in Latin. His work On Agriculture is the earliest surviving complete text of Latin prose literature.
Plautus (c. 250-184 BC) – His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety.
Lucilius (c. 180 - 102 BC) – Founder of the Roman satire genre. Only fragments of his works survive.
Varro (116-27 BC) – One of the most prolific authors of antiquity. Only two of his works are extant: Agricultural Topics and On the Latin Language.
Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) – Roman statesman, general and writer. His most important contribution to literature consists of firsthand accounts of his wars: De bello Civili and De bello Gallico.
Lucretius (c. 94 BC - c. 55 BC) – Poet and philosopher. His only surviving work is the philosophical poem De rerum natura.
Marcus Velleius Paterculus (c. 19 BC - c. 31 AD) – Roman historian best known for his Compendium of Roman History.
Sallust (86-34 BC) – The earliest Roman historian whose complete works survive. The best known are The Jugurthine War, The Conspiracy of Catiline and Histories.
Vitruvius (c. 80-15 BC) – The most famous architectural theorist of antiquity, best known for his treatise On Architecture.
Virgil (70 BC - 19 AD) – One of the three greatest Roman poets with Horace and Ovid. Best known for writing the epic poem the Aeneid. His two other major works are the Eclogues and the Georgics.
Horace (65 BC - 8 AD) – One of the three greatest Roman poets with Virgil and Ovid. His poetical works includes his Odes, Satires, Epodes and Ars Poetica.
Titus Livius or Livy (59 BC - 17 AD) – One of the most important historians of ancient Rome, together with Pliny the Elder and Tacitus.
Propertius (c. 47 BC - 15 BC) – His surviving work comprises four books of Elegies.
Ovid (43 BC - c. 17/18 AD) – One of the three greatest Roman poets with Virgil and Horace. Best known for the Metamorphoses, the Ars Amatoria and the Fasti.
Cornelius Nepos (c. 19 BC - c. 31 AD) – Roman biographer best known for his De viris illustribus, containing the lives of illustrious Romans and foreigners.
Seneca (c. 4 BC - 65 AD) – Philosopher, dramatist, orator and statesman. Best known for his numerous philosophical essays and tragedies.
Silius Italicus (c. 25-101 AD) – Consul, orator and poet. His only surviving work is the Punica, an epic poem about the Second Punic War and the longest surviving poem in Latin.
Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) – The most important historian of ancient Rome. His Natural History is considered the world's first encyclopedia. He coined the two expressions, “Take it with a grain of salt” and “Fortune favors the bold”.
Persius (34-62 AD) – One of the four great Roman satirists with Lucilius, Horace and Juvenal.
Lucan (39-65 AD) – Regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Silver Age of Latin literature.
Statius (c. 45-96 AD) – One of the main exponents of the epic poetry in the Flavian period. His surviving works includes the epic poem the Thebaid, the Silvae, and the unfinished epic the Achilleid.
Juvenal (c. 50-127 AD) – Considered the greatest Roman satirist. Best known as the author of a collection of satirical poems known as the Satires.
Tacitus (c. 56-120 AD) – Considered one of the greatest Roman historians. His two most important works are his Annals and Histories.
Suetonius (c. 69-126 AD) – Roman historian, best known for his Lives of the Caesars and Lives of Illustrious Men.
Florus (c. 70-145 AD) – Roman historian and poet, best known for writing an Epitome of Roman History.
Aulus Gellius (c. 125-180 AD) – Famous for his Attic Nights, a compilation of notes on grammar, philosophy, history, antiquarianism and other subjects.
Italian Writers of Late Antiquity
Faltonia Betitia Proba (c. 306 - c. 353) – The earliest female Christian poet and the first writer to compose a Christian cento. Her greatest poem is the Cento Vergilianus de laudibus Christi.
Vegetius (300's - 400's) – Best known for the military treatise De re militari.
Sofronius Eusebius Hieronymus or Jerome (347-420) – One of the most important early Christian writers and one of the four Latin Doctors of the Church. His most famous work is De viris illustribus, a collection of short biographies of 135 authors.
Aurelius Ambrosius or Ambrose (c. 340-397) – One of the most important early Christian writers and one of the four Latin Doctors of the Church. His works include theological and ethical writings, biblical exegesis, funeral orations, letters, hymns and homilies.
Prudentius (348 - c. 405) – One of the earliest Christian poets. His Psychomachia was the first and most influential completely allegorical poem in European literature.
Aurelius Augustinus or Augustine (354-430) – The most important early Christian writer and theologian, and one of the four Latin Doctors of the Church. His most famous work is The City of God.
Paulinus of Nola (355-431) – Poet, writer, senator, consul, governor and bishop. His poems were used as educational models. He is also credited with the invention of bells.
Sidonius Apollinaris (c. 430-489) – Poet, senator, prefect and bishop. One of the most important Roman and Christian poets of the 5th century. Considered the last representative of classical Roman culture in Gaul.
Magnus Felix Ennodius (c. 474-521) – Poet and bishop. One of the last representatives of the ancient school of rhetoric. Best known for his biography of St. Epiphanius.
Boethius (c. 477-524) – Statesman and philosopher. Considered the last great representative of ancient Roman culture and the first great intellectual of the Middle Ages. His most important work is The Consolation of Philosophy, the last great work of classical antiquity and the single most influential work on Medieval and early Renaissance Christianity.
Cassiodorus (c. 485-580) – Statesman, scholar and monk. A prolific writer of histories, letters, panegyrics and theological works. Inventor of the world's first scriptorium. He enjoined his monks to collect and copy ancient manuscripts, thereby preserving the ancient works of both secular and Christian authors for posterity.
Venantius Fortunatus (530-607) – The last major Latin poet of late antiquity. Best known for two poems which became part of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church: the Pange lingua gloriosi proelium certaminis and the Vexilla Regis prodeunt.
Gregorius Anicius or Gregory the Great (c. 540-604) – The last pope of antiquity, the first medieval pope, and one of the four Latin Doctors of the Church. He was a more prolific writer than any of his predecessors. His best known works are his Dialogues and Pastoral Rule.
Italian Writers of the Middle Ages
Francis of Assisi (c. 1181-1226) – His Canticle of the Sun was the first poem written in the vernacular Italian language.
Giacomo da Lentini (c. 1210-1260) – One of the main representatives of the Sicilian School of poetry. Inventor of the sonnet.
Bonaventure (1221-1274) – Regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of the Middle Ages. His best known work is Journey of the Mind Into God.
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) – One of the most important philosophers in the history Western thought. His Summa Theologiae is one of the most influential works of Western literature.
Jacobus de Voragine (c. 1230-1298) – Author or compiler of the Golden Legend, the most popular medieval collection of saints' lives and one of the most widely-read books of the late Middle Ages.
Guido Guinizzelli (1235-1276) – Founder of the Dolce Stil Novo movement together with Guido Cavalcanti.
Marco Polo (1254-1324) – Italian explorer, best known for his book Il Milione describing his travels through Asia.
Guido Cavalcanti (c. 1258-1300) – Poet and troubadour. Founder of the Dolce Stil Novo movement together with Guido Guinizzelli.
Jacopone da Todi (c. 1236-1306) – Poet and Franciscan friar. Considered one of the most important Italian poets of the Middle Ages and one of the most famous authors of religious lauds in all Italian literature. He was also an early pioneer in Italian theatre, being one of the earliest scholars to dramatize Gospel subjects.
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) – Called the “Father of the Italian Language”. Regarded as the greatest Italian poet and one of the greatest poets of all time. His Divine Comedy is widely considered the most important poem of the Middle Ages, the greatest literary work in the Italian language and one of the pinnacles of Western literature. Together with Petrarch and Boccaccio, he one of the “Three Crowns” of Italian literature.
Italian Writers of the Renaissance
Albertino Mussato (1261-1329) – Credited with providing an impetus to the revival of literary Latin. His play Ecerinis was the first secular tragedy written since Roman times and is considered the first Italian tragedy identifiable as a Renaissance work.
Giovanni Fiorentino (c. 1300's) – His novella Il Pecorone was one of the bases for Shakespeare's “Merchant of Venice”.
Francesco Petrarca or Petrarch (1304-1374) – Called the “Father of the Renaissance”. Famous for developing the Petrarchan sonnet, which became a model for lyrical poetry. Together with Dante and Boccaccio, he one of the “Three Crowns” of Italian literature. His most celebrated poem is Italia mia, the 128th canzone of his Il Canzoniere.
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) – Called the “Father of the Novel”. His influence on Renaissance literature was enormous and his novellas still continue to be read today. His best know work, The Decameron, is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose. Together with Dante and Petrarch, he one of the “Three Crowns” of Italian literature.
Franco Sacchetti (1332-1400) – Best remembered for authoring Il Trecentonovelle, a collection of 300 novellas.
Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) – Tertiary and mystic. Her letters are considered one of the great works of early Tuscan literature. Her major work, The Dialogue, is one of the most famous spiritual classics of all time.
Leonardo Bruni (c. 1370-1444) – Regarded as the first modern historian. He was the earliest person to write using the three-period view of history: Antiquity, Middle Ages, and Modern. His History of the Florentine People has been called the first modern history book.
Poggio Bracciolini (1380-1459) – Scholar, historian and writer. He authored numerous dialogues, essays, treatises, epistles and a History of Florence. His Facetiae was the most famous jokebook of the Renaissance.
Flavio Biondo (1392-1463) – Historian and archaeologist. He was one of the first historians to use a three-period division of history: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern.
Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) – Polymath, architect, writer, mathematician, linguist, philosopher, musician and archaeologist. He wrote books on architecture, painting, sculpture, grammar, cryptography, dialogues, essays and poems.
Masuccio Salernitano (1410-1475) – Best remembered for Il Novellino, a collection of 50 novellas. One of these novellas, Mariotto and Ganozza, is the earliest version of what would become Shakespeare's famous play “Romeo and Juliet”.
Matteo Maria Boiardo (1441-1494) – Best remembered for his epic poem Orlando Innamorato.
Agnolo Poliziano (1454-1494) – Generally considered the greatest Italian poet of the 15th century.
Jacopo Sannazaro (1457-1530) – Best remembered for his pastoral poem Arcadia, a masterwork which instituted the theme of Arcadia in European literature.
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) – Diplomat, politician, historian, philosopher, writer, playwright and poet. Called the “Father of Modern Political Philosophy”. His most well-known work The Prince is one of the first works of modern philosophy.
Pietro Bembo (1470-1547) – Scholar, poet and cardinal. Celebrated for his contribution to the development and standardization of the Italian language. His ideas were also decisive in the formation of the most important secular musical form of the 16th century, the madrigal. The typeface Bembo is named after him.
Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533) – Best known as the author of the epic poem Orlando Furioso, a continuation of Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato.
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) – A Renaissance polymath best remembered as a sculptor, architect and painter, he was also one of Renaissance Italy's greatest poets.
Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529) – Courtier, diplomat, soldier and writer. Best remembered for authoring The Book of the Courtier. It was one of the most widely-distributed books of the 16th century, with editions printed in six languages and in twenty European centers.
Gian Giorgio Trissino (1478-1550) – His Sofonisba was the first modern tragedy. His L'Italia liberata dai Goti was the first heroic poem and historical epic written in the classical manner. He is also credited as the inventor of blank verse.
Giovanni Francesco Straparola (1480-1557) – Best known for The Pleasant Nights, the first European collection of fairy tales. It contains the earliest versions of “Puss in Boots“, “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Golden Goose”.
Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540) – One of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance. His masterpiece, The History of Italy, paved the way for a new style in historiography.
Luigi Da Porto (1485-1529) – His Historia novellamente ritrovata di due nobili amanti was the first to introduce the character names Romeo and Juliet.
Matteo Bandello (1485-1562) – Monk, bishop and writer. His novellas were adapted by Shakespeare for his plays “Cymbeline”, “Much Ado about Nothing”, “Romeo and Juliet” and “Twelfth Night”.
Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571) – His autobiography is considered the most important autobiography of the Renaissance and one of the most colorful autobiographies ever written.
Giovanni della Casa (1503-1556) – His book Galateo is the most celebrated etiquette book in European history.
Giambattista Giraldi Cinzio (1504-1573) – His Hecatommithi, a collection of novellas, provided the plots for Shakespeare's plays “Measure for Measure” and “Othello”, as well as for “The Travails of Persiles and Sigismunda” by Miguel Cervantes.
Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) – His Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects is considered the first important book on art history and still remains the most famous and most-read work of the older literature of art.
Torquato Tasso (1544-1595) – Best known for his epic poem Gerusalemme liberata (Jerusalem Delivered). With Guarini, he is also credited with establishing the form of a new literary genre: the pastoral drama.
Italian Writers of the Counter-Reformation and Baroque Period
Lorenzo Scupoli (c. 1530-1610) – Remembered for The Spiritual Combat, one of the most important works of Catholic spirituality.
Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538-1612) – With Torquato Tasso, he is credited with establishing the form of a new literary genre: the pastoral drama. He was also the most important poet to contribute to the flowering of the madrigal in the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras.
Roberto Bellarmino (1542-1621) – One of the most important figures in the Counter-Reformation. He wrote numerous controversial, catechetical and spiritual works.
Alessandro Tassoni (1565-1635) – Credited with inventing the model of the heroi-comic genre with his La secchia rapita (The Rape of the Bucket).
Giambattista Marino (1569-1625) – Founder of the school of Marinism, later called Secentismo. He is most famous for his long epic L'Adone.
Giambattista Basile (1566-1632) – His collection of fairy tales, the Pentamerone, contains the earliest versions of “Rapunzel”, “Snow White”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Cinderella” and “Sleeping Beauty”.
Gian Francesco Biondi (1572-1644) – His trilogy L'Eromena, La Donzella desterrada and Il Coralbo introduced the heroic-gallant novel genre to Italy.
Fulvio Testi (1593-1646) – One of the leading exponents of Italian Baroque literature.
Italian Writers of the Settecento
Giambattista Vico (1668-1744) – Philosopher, historian and jurist. His two major works are Scienza Nuova and On the Most Ancient Wisdom of the Italians.
Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori (1696-1787) – Catholic bishop, writer, composer, lawyer and theologian. He authored 111 works on spirituality and theology. The 21,500 editions of his works and the translations into 72 languages make him one of the most widely-read Catholic authors.
Pietro Metastasio (1698-1782) – Regarded as the greatest librettist of all time and one of the greatest poets of the 18th century.
Carlo Goldoni (1707-1793) – Playwright and librettist. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays.
Carlo Gozzi (1720-1806) – One of the pillars of Italian drama in the 18th century, together with Carlo Goldoni.
Giuseppe Parini (1729-1799) – Poet and abbot. One of the greatest Italian Neoclassical poets.
Italian Writers of the Risorgimento
Alessandro Manzoni (1785-1873) – The most important Italian author of the 19th century. Best known for his novel The Betrothed, the most famous and widely read novel in the Italian language which inspired two operas, three films, a ballet, television productions and at least seven plays.
Cesare Balbo (1789-1853) – Historian, writer and statesman. His most famous work is The Life of Dante.
Silvio Pellico (1789-1854) – His autobiographical memoir My Prisons made him one of the most popular Italian writer of his time.
Giacomo Leopardi (1798-1837) – One of the principal figures of literary romanticism. Considered the greatest Italian poet of the 19th century and one of the greatest poets in history.
Vincenzo Gioberti (1801-1852) – Catholic priest, patriot, philosopher and politician. His most famous work is On the Moral and Civil Primacy of the Italians.
Niccolò Tommaseo (1802-1874) – Best remembered for his Dizionario della lingua italiana, the most important Italian dictionary produced during the Risorgimento, and for his Fede e bellezza, an early example of the psychological novel, considered one of the best novels of the Romantic period.
Cesare Cantù (1804-1895) – Author of numerous novels, histories and historical essays. His Margherita Pusterla became one of the most popular historical novels in the Italian language, second only to Manzoni's The Betrothed. His masterpiece is the Universal History, which is considered the best work of its kind in Italian and perhaps in any language.
Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872) – Patriot, politician, philosopher and journalist. His best known work is The Duties of Man.
Goffredo Mameli (1827-1849) – Best known for his poem Il Canto degli Italiani, which became the lyrics of the national anthem of Italy.
Carlo Collodi (1826-1890) – Best known as the author of Pinocchio, the most translated non-religious book in the world and one of the best-selling books ever published.
Ippolito Nievo (1831-1861) – His Confessions of an Italian is considered the most important novel about the Italian Risorgimento.
Italian Writers of the Modern Period
Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) – Dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934.
Giovanni Papini (1881-1956) – Journalist, essayist, literary critic, poet, philosopher and writer. One of the most important Italian literary figures of the early and mid-20th century
Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888-1970) – Poet, journalist, essayist, critic and academic. Considered one of the greatest Italian poets of the 20th century.
