Tommaso Gherardi del Testa
Tommaso Gherardi del Testa (* 1814 in Terricciola near Pisa , † October 12, 1881 in Pistoia ) was an Italian comedy poet .
Gherardi del Testa studied law in Pisa and then settled in Florence as a lawyer. In 1848 he fought the Austrians at Montanara, then at San Silvestro, where he fell into the hands of the Croats, and was imprisoned for a time at the Theresienstadt fortress .
A novel that he had begun before the outbreak of the revolution: Il figlio del bastardo , he later published in Florence. From then on, however, he turned to comedy. The liveliness, freshness and naturalness of the dialogue with the Tuscan purity of the language as well as the bold mood and the happy humor of his inventions immediately gave the first attempts a significant success.
The most popular from this era are:
- Il sistema di Giorgio ,
- Cogli uomini non si scherza ,
- Il padiglione delle mortelle ,
- Il regno di Adelaide ,
- Il sistema di Lucrezia .
Later he gave his comedies a greater depth and pursued more serious purposes, without losing anything of the original effect of his fresh talent. The national rebirth of Italy from 1859 onwards also allowed his wit to move more freely in a political direction.
- Le false letterate ,
- La moda e la famiglia ,
- Le scimmie ,
- La carità pelosa ,
- Le coscienze elastiche ,
- Oro ed orpello , but especially
- Il vero blasone and Vita nuova belong to this direction.
His uncommonly numerous pieces have been collected under the title: Teatro comico (Florence 1856–58, 4 vols.). Gherardi also wrote. the novels: La farina del diavolo and La povera e la ricca (1858), a moral painting that reminds here and there of Gil Blas, as well as a number of very successful political poems in the manner of Giuseppe Giusti . Gherardi died on October 13, 1881 in his villa near Pistoia , where he had lived for years.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gherardi del Testa, Tommaso |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian comedy poet |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1814 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Terricciola |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 12, 1881 |
| Place of death | Pistoia |