This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2019) |
Giacomo Leopardi | |
---|---|
![]() Posthumous portrait (1897) by Stanislao Ferrazzi | |
Born | Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi 29 June 1798 |
Died | 14 June 1837 | (aged 38)
Notable work | Canti Operette morali Zibaldone |
Era | 19th-century philosophy |
Region | Western philosophy |
School | Classicism, later Enlightenment, Romanticism |
Main interests | Poetry, essay, dialogue |
Notable ideas | Philosophical pessimism |
Signature | |
![]() |
Count Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi (29 June 1798 – 14 June 1837) was an Italian philosopher, poet, essayist, and philologist. Considered the greatest Italian poet of the 19th century and one of the greatest authors of his time worldwide,[3][4] as well as one of the principals of literary Romanticism, his constant reflection on existence and on the human condition—of sensuous and materialist inspiration—has also earned him a reputation as a deep philosopher. He is widely seen as one of the most radical and challenging thinkers of the 19th century[5][6] but routinely compared by Italian critics to his older contemporary Alessandro Manzoni despite expressing "diametrically opposite positions."[7] Although he lived in a secluded town in the conservative Papal States, he came into contact with the main ideas of the Enlightenment, and, through his own literary evolution, created a remarkable and renowned poetic work, related to the Romantic era. The strongly lyrical quality of his poetry made him a central figure on the European and international literary and cultural landscape.[8]