Giovanni Battista Guarini

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Battista Guarini
Pastor fido , 1680

Giovanni Battista Guarini (born December 10, 1538 in Ferrara , † October 7, 1612 in Venice ) was an Italian poet.

Life

Giovanni Battista Guarini studied in Padua, Pisa and Ferrara and, at a very young age, became professor of literature and philosophy at the latter university. At the age of 30 he entered the service of Duke Alfonso II of Ferrara , who made him a knight and sent him as an envoy to various courts, most recently to the Polish estates, to propose Alfonso king.

Dismissed by the Duke as a result of the failure of this mission, he retired to his estate near Rovigo in 1582 , where he was mainly concerned with science. But as early as 1585 the Duke called him back to Ferrara as Secretary of State, and Guarini again achieved great prestige for a short time, but in 1587 he was dismissed again because he felt offended by the Duke's interference in his family affairs.

After he had stayed at the court of the Duke of Savoy for a short time and then lived again for a number of years as a private person, he entered the service of Grand Duke Ferdinand I of Toscana in 1597 , soon after that of the Duke of Urbino, which he but also soon left to return to his hometown, from which he was sent to Rome in 1605 to wish Pope Paul V luck on his election as papal. But he only stayed temporarily in Ferrara, because the numerous lawsuits in which his extremely contentious character had involved him even with his closest relatives throughout his life compelled him to travel continuously. He died on one of these in Venice in 1612.

Of Guarini's poetic works , the most famous is his shepherd poem Il pastor fido , the most excellent of all imitations of the Aminta by Torquato Tasso . It was first used in Turin in 1585 for the marriage of Karl Emanuel , Duke of Savoy, with Catherine of Austria , Philip III. Sister, listed but not printed in Venice until 1590.

Not really outstanding as a drama, the piece has individual great beauties and is characterized by the elegance of the language and the verse structure. It has always been one of the favorite poems of the Italians and has been printed extraordinarily often (also outside of Italy) (best Venice 1602 and 1769, Leiden 1678, London 1800, Milan 1807) and has also been translated into almost all European languages ​​(into German by Hoffmannswaldau (1652), by Hans Aßmann Freiherr von Abschatz 1672/78 under the title "The German-speaking loyal shepherd of the famous Welschen Guarini"; Arnold (Gotha 1815), H. Müller ( Zwickau 1822) and Merbach (Grimma 1846)) .

The singer Anna Guarini , a member of the famous vocal ensemble Il Canto delle Dame di Ferrara at the court of Alfonso II, was his daughter.

Works (selection)

  • Lettere . Verona 1593 and 1615
  • Il segretario . Venice 1594
  • Rime . Venice 1598
  • La idropica . Verona 1734 (comedy)

and his Trattato della politica libertà, printed in 1818 (with Guarini's biography by Ruggieri). Barotti and Apostolo Zeno (Verona 1737–38, 4 volumes) obtained an unfinished collection of his works .

Literature (selection)

Web links

Commons : Giovanni Battista Guarini  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

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personal data
SURNAME Guarini, Giovanni Battista
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian poet
DATE OF BIRTH December 10, 1538
PLACE OF BIRTH Ferrara
DATE OF DEATH October 7, 1612
Place of death Venice