Domenico Balestrieri (writer)

Domenico Balestrieri (1714–1780) was an Italian scholar, writer and poet. He gained his fame as an author of "dialectal" works in Milanese language, for which he is considered one of the classics of Milanese literature. Baestrieri's work was a major inspiration source for later Milanese writers such as Carlo Porta.[1]

Domenico Balestrieri
Domenico Balestrieri
Born16 April 1714 Edit this on Wikidata
Milan, Duchy of Milan
Died11 May 1780 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 66)
Milan, Duchy of Milan
Resting placeSan Nazaro in Brolo Edit this on Wikidata
OccupationPoet Edit this on Wikidata
MovementEnlightenment
Spouse(s)
Rosalia Casati
(m. 1747)

Biography

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Domenico Balestrieri was born in Milan on April 16, 1714.[1] On 10 October 1747 he married Rosalia Casati.[1] He died on June 11, 1780.[1] Balestrieri was an important figure of Enlightenment Milan and a founding member of the Accademia dei Trasformati.[2] He was a close friend of Carlo Imbonati and Giuseppe Parini, who commemorated his death in a sonnet entitled In morte di Domenico Balestrieri.[2]

Balestrieri wrote poems both in Milanese dialect and Italian. His main works are the Rimm milanes de Meneghin Balestreri Accademech Trasformae (1744) and Rime toscane e milanesi (1774–9). He also translated Torquato Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered into Milanese (Milan, 1773).[3] There were two characteristics of the translation: it was a parody of the original work, yet it also treated the poem seriously, particularly on themes of religion or pastoral love. Balestrieri's poetry collection Lagrime in morte di un gatto (1741), included contributions from Giuseppe Marc'Antonio Baretti and the brothers Carlo and Gasparo Gozzi.[4]

Works

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d Isella 1963.
  2. ^ a b Haller 1999, p. 108.
  3. ^ Mari 1982.
  4. ^ Natali, Giulio (1950). Il Settecento (3 ed.). Milan: F. Vallardi. p. 663.

Sources

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