Ugo Foscolo

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Ugo Foscolo

Ugo Foscolo , neugr. Oúgos Fóskolos (Ούγος Φώσκολος), origin. Niccolò Foscolo , (born February 6, 1778 in Zákynthos , † September 10, 1827 in Turnham Green near London ) was an Italian poet .

Foscolo comes from one of the old families in Venice . He was the son of the doctor Andrea Foscolo and his Greek wife Diamantina Spathis. His father had been in charge of the Split hospital since 1774 , when he died in 1788, leaving the family in great trouble. That is why the mother and Ugo settled in Venice again in 1792.

From there, at the age of 19, Foscolo went to the University of Padua to study. At the beginning of his own literary work in 1795, he dropped his first name and took the first name Ugo . Just two years later he was able to successfully debut in his hometown with his tragedy Tieste . Politically committed and therefore extremely interested in getting rid of the Austrian occupation, Foscolo was enthusiastic about the French Revolution . Like many of his compatriots, he expected Napoléon Bonaparte to re-liberate Italy . In some of his odes , Foscolo praises Napoleon as a liberator.

From Venice he went to Milan, where he made the acquaintance of the writers Giuseppe Parini and Vincenzo Monti , who thought like him. Because of different political views, Monti and Foscolo later went their separate ways. Foscolo didn't just want to fight for Italy at his desk and therefore joined the French army, the Cisalpine Legion , as a volunteer . Under the command of General André Masséna , Foscolo u. a. in Genoa ; took part in the Battle of Marengo and returned to Milan disaffected and disappointed.

There he completed his novel Ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis , which he had already begun in Padua and which was hailed as the Werther of Italy immediately after its publication . Still very politically active, Foscolo allowed himself to be set up as a deputy of the Cisalpine Republic . As such, he also took part in various meetings; u. a. in Lyon . After his return he withdrew a little into private life and also translated the hymn The Hair of Berenike von Callimachos and published it with an extensive commentary.

Dei sepolcri , 1809

In 1805 Foscolo rejoined the French army with the rank of captain and was stationed near Bologna . But since a campaign against Great Britain was omitted for political reasons, he returned to Milan. There, under his leadership, he not only produced a work by Raimondo Montecuccoli , but also in 1807 one of his most beautiful poems, I sepolcri . Two years later, Foscolo was appointed to the chair of rhetoric at the University of Pavia . His inaugural lecture was entitled Discorso dell'origine e dell'ufficio della litteratura . But after a few months this chair was banned.

Back in Milan, Foscolo returned to his own literary work and published his second tragedy, Ajace . The political allusions contained therein earned him expulsion from Lombardy . He settled in Florence and created his Riccarda there . This tragedy was also controversial as to its political content and Foscolo faced reprisals. That is why he returned to Milan in 1813. After the Austrian troops came to power, Foscolo emigrated to Hottingen near Zurich . In exile in Switzerland he wrote the extremely bitter satire Didymi Clerici prophetae minimi hypercalypseos liber singularis against Austria . In 1816 he emigrated to London , where, as a famous writer, virtually all doors were open to him.

In London, in addition to his work for various British magazines and newspapers, he wrote Saggi sul Petrarca and Discorso sul testo di Dante, and he created a highly acclaimed adaptation of Dante Alighieri's Divina Commedia . From 1823 Foscolo also gave lectures on the Italian language and literature .

Since Foscolo lived beyond his means, he became increasingly impoverished despite the increased income. Over time, he spent a small fortune playing cards. Completely impoverished and lonely, the once celebrated writer died at the age of 49 on September 10, 1827 in Turnham Green near London. He found his final resting place in the Chiswick cemetery . In 1871 his remains were transferred to Italy and buried in the church of Santa Croce in Florence.

Works

  • Ode a Bonaparte liberatore
  • Ajace
  • Tieste (1797)
  • Per Luigia Pallavicini caduta da cavallo
  • All'amica risanata
  • I sonetti
  • Ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis (1802)
  • I sepolcri (1807)
  • Didymi clerici prophetae minimi hypercalypseos liber singularis
  • Discorso sul testo di Dante (London, 1826)
  • Le grazie
  • Laura
  • Orazione a Buonaparte
  • Riccarda
  • Saggi sul Petrarca (London, 1826)

literature

  1. Adolescenza . 1927
  2. Maturità . 1928
  3. Odissea . 1928
  4. L'esilio . 1930
  • Pellegrino Artusi : Vita di Ugo Foscolo . Barbera, Florence 1878
  • Luigi Carrer: Vita di Ugo Foscolo . Moretti & Vitali, Bergamo 1995, ISBN 88-7186-041-1 .
  • Lodovico Corio: Rivelazioni storiche intorno ad Ugo Foscolo. Lettere e documenti tratti dal R. Archivio di Stato di Milano . Carrara, Milan 1873
  • Julius L. Klein: History of Drama . Weigel, Leipzig
    • 7. The Italian drama . 1869
  • Giuseppe Pecchio: Vita di Ugo Foscolo . Longanesi, Milan 1974 (repr. Of the Lugano 1832 edition)
  • Michele Saponara: Vita amorosa ed eroica di Ugo Foscolo . Mondadori, Milan
  • Winfried Wehle : The truth in detail: an unwritten chapter of the "Italian journey". Goethe, Foscolo and the 'young people' of 1806 , in: Frank-Rutger Hausmann (Ed.): "Italy in Germanien": German reception of Italy from 1750 - 1850; Files from the symposium of the Weimar Classic Foundation, Duchess Anna Amalia Library, Schiller Museum, March 24-26 , 1994 , Tübingen 1996, pp. 252–274. PDF
  • Winfried Wehle : Italian modernity. Foscolos Ultime Lettere di Jacopo Ortis (1802). Farewell to the aesthetics of imitation . In: K. Maurer / Winfried Wehle (eds.): Romanticism - Departure to Modernity . Munich 1991, p. 235-272 (Romance Studies Colloquium V). PDF
  • Winfried Wehle : Nation and Emotion. About the commitment to make politics with literature - The Foscolo case in: M.Föcking; M.Schwarze (ed.): Una gente di lingua, di memorie e di cor, Heidelberg 2015. PDF
  • Federigo G. de Winckels: Vita di Ugo Foscolo . Verlag Münster, Verona 1885–98 (3 volumes)

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Foscolo, Ugo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Foscolo, Niccolò (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian poet
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1778
PLACE OF BIRTH Zakynthos
DATE OF DEATH September 10, 1827
Place of death Turnham Green near London