The Complete Canti of Leopardi

Giacomo Leopardi, born on 29 June 1798 in Recanati in the Papal States, was an Italian philosopher, poet, essayist, and philologist. Regarded as the greatest Italian poet of the 19th century, Leopardi was a principal figure in literary Romanticism, known for his reflections on the human condition. Though living in the conservative Papal States, he was strongly influenced by Enlightenment ideas.

Leopardi was born into a noble family; his father, Count Monaldo Leopardi, being a devotee of literature and a traditionalist, while his mother, Adelaide Antici Mattei, was intent on restoring the family’s financial situation. Leopardi's early life, marked by strict religious and economic discipline, was spent with his brother Carlo Orazio and sister Paolina, influencing his later works, notably in the poem "Le Ricordanze".

His education, primarily conducted in his father's extensive library, included comprehensive studies in classical and philological culture, enabling him to master Latin, Ancient Greek, and Hebrew. However, intense study may have adversely affected his lifelong physical ailments.

In 1817, Leopardi met the classicist Pietro Giordani, forming a strong friendship. In his later career he spent time in Milan, Bologna, Florence, and Pisa, where he engaged in various literary projects. His interactions with contemporaries including Alessandro Manzoni and Pietro Colletta were notable, though their views often differed.

Ultimately settling in Naples for reasons of ill-health, Leopardi died on 14 June 1837 during a cholera epidemic. His friend Antonio Ranieri ensured that his remains were respectfully interred and they now rest at Parco Virgiliano in Naples, his mausoleum having been declared a national monument.

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