Giovanni Gherardo de Rossi

Giovanni Gherardo de Rossi (born March 12, 1754 in Rome , † March 27, 1827 in Rome) was an Italian poet and scholar who was particularly known for his comedies .

Life

After his school days in Rome, de Rossi took up law studies at his father's request. At the same time, he found the opportunity to devote himself to his humanistic interests and, among other things, to learn Greek . After graduating, he began working as a lawyer, but in 1774 he took over the management of the de Rossi family estates. He managed to save the troubled family finances from collapse and to consolidate the assets. In addition, he had time to deal with the fine arts, especially literature. From 1776 he made his first attempts to establish himself as a poet under the name Perinto Sceo , but initially with only moderate success.

In 1778 he married Clementina Ingami, with whom he had two children: Teresa, who later married Enrico Caetani, Duke of Sermoneta, and Giovan Francesco, who married into the Bourbon family.

In 1781 he left the family business due to disputes and turned to banking. From 1784 de Rossi was also active as a journalist; he participated - anonymously - in the publication of the Giornale delle belle arti e dell'incisione antiquaria, musica e poesia and founded together with O. Boni the monthly published Le Memorie per le belle arti , which appeared until 1788 and in which de Rossi for the areas of sculpture and painting was responsible. In 1788 the first edition of his Favole was published in Rome , sixty compositions of verse in dialogue form based on the model of La Fontaine . Almost at the same time his Commedie were printed - the first volume in 1790 in Venice, between 1790 and 1798 a total of four volumes with sixteen comedies appeared. Presumably de Rossi wrote considerably more works, but they remained unpublished.

After reading Molière and Carlo Goldoni , he also dealt with the theory of comedy and developed some elements that contradicted the fashion of his time. In 1790 de Rossi was appointed director of the newly founded Accademia di Portogallo per le belle arti in Rome. In this function he dedicated himself particularly to promoting young artists.

From 1798 to 1800 he was Finance Minister of the short-lived Roman Republic . After this brief excursion into politics, de Rossi turned back to his research, especially in the field of antiquity , which would keep him busy until the end of his life. He was a member of several scientific societies, including a corresponding member of the Institut de France , and in 1816 was appointed director of the Accademia reale napoletana in Rome.

De Rossi died on March 27, 1827 in Rome of a sudden illness and was buried in the church of San Carlo ai Catinari .

literature

• Andreina Rita: De Rossi, Giovanni Gherardo , in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani , Vol. 39 (1991)