Gian Pietro Riva

Count Gian Pietro Riva CRS (born October 18, 1696 in Lugano , † December 19, 1785 ibid) was a Swiss headmaster and translator.

Life

Gian Pietro Riva was the son of Count Giovanni Battista Riva (* December 24, 1646 in Lugano, † December 17, 1729 ibid), councilor in Lugano and his wife Lucrezia, daughter of Giovanni Pietro Morosini. His brothers were

• Antonio Riva (born July 23, 1678 in Lugano; † June 15, 1765 ibid), governor of the Lugano militia;
• Rodolfo Giovanni Riva (born December 14, 1679 in Lugano; † February 12, 1763 there), President of the Council in Lugano;
• Francesco Saverio Riva (born September 30, 1702 in Lugano; † July 27, 1783 ibid) was a cleric without pastoral duties and administered a considerable part of the family's assets.

He studied at the College of San Antonio in Lugano, which was led by the Somas and into whose order he was accepted in 1714; In 1719 he was ordained a priest . He later worked as a teacher at the same college and taught rhetoric for several years . From there he moved to the Somasker colleges in Pavia and Como , and finally worked as a rhetoric teacher at the Accademia del Porto , the Accademia degli Ardenti , founded in 1555 , in Bologna . His stay in Bologna had a lasting impact on his personality and work.

In 1732 he returned to Lugano and became rector of the College of San Antonio

Writing

He wrote numerous poems which he signed with Rosmano Lapiteo , his name as an Arcadian .

He also dealt with the verse editing of the folk book Bertoldo, Bertoldino e Cacasenno , which was published in 1736 and worked with considerable success.

As part of spiritual literature, he published a collection of poems and translated religious and contemplative writings. His translations of Theseus by Antoine La Fosse, Iphigenie by Jean Racine and especially the comedies by Molière from the French, of which L'avare and Le mariage forcé were published, gave an important impetus to the renewal of Italian theater in the 18th century. Out of religious consideration for his order, the other 22 translations of Molière's comedies remained unpublished and are now in the Cantonal Library of Lugano .

Fonts (selection)

• Nicolas Caussin, Gian Pietro Riva, Jean Balam (Lyon), Jean Molinet (Lyon), Collegio dei Somaschi Lugano (possessore): La Cour sainte ou Institution chrestienne des grands avec les examples de ceux qui dans les cours ont fleury en sainteté . Jean Balam, Jean Molin, Lyon 1668–1669.
• Canzone nella solenne professione di Suor Marianna Giulia Forti da celebrarsi nel Regio Monistero di Santa Chiara di Pavia . Per Gio. Antonio Ghidini, Pavia 1720.
• Antoine de Lafosse , Gian Pietro Riva: Teseo, tragedia . Nella Stamperia di Clemente Maria Sassi, Bologna 1726.
• Jean Racine ; Molière .; Gian Pietro Riva: L'Ifigenia: Tragedia del sig. Racine. L'Arpagone: Comedia e. 'l Matrimonio per forza: Farsa del sig. di Molière. traslatate dal franzese in verso italiano e recitate in Lugano il carnovale dell'anno 1735 . Nella Stamperia di Giuseppe Malatesta, Milano 1735.
• Gian Pietro Riva, Giulio Cesare Croce, Adriano Banchieri , Giovanni Andrea Barotti, Giuseppe Maria Crespi : Bertoldo con Bertoldino e Cacasenno in ottava rima: con argomenti, allegorie, annotazioni, et figure in rame . Nella Stamperìa di Leilo dalla Volpe, Bolgona 1736, Text Archive - Internet Archive .
• I. Bergamo. Presso Pietro Lancellotti, 1760.
• Giuseppe Celestino Astori, Gian Pietro Riva: Poemetti per la professione nell'inclito monistero di Santa Lucia di Bergamo di donna Teresa Felice Sottocasa . Dalle stampe di Francesco Locatelli, Bergamo 1765.

Literature (selection)

• Flavio Catenazzi; Bruno Beffa; Gian Pietro Riva: Un corrispondente luganese di LA Muratori: Giampiero Riva, somasco. In: Studi e problemi di critica testuale , 34, Pisa-Roma 1987, pp. 125-143.
• Giuseppe Marinoni: P. Gian Pietro Riva CRS, in Arcadia Rosmano Lapiteio, nella cultura letteraria ticinese del Settecento. Milano 1960. The same: Padre Gian Pietro Riva. Arti Grafiche Gaggini-Bizzezero, Lugano 1969.
• Laura Maggi Notarangelo: Gian Pietro Riva, traduttore di Molière. Casagrande, Bellinzona 1990.
• Laura Maggi Notarangelo: Gian Pietro Riva. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . December 1, 2010 , accessed March 2, 2020 .

Web links

• Gian Pietro Riva . Institute for Theater Studies.