Pietro Canavelli (in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, his personal spelling; known as Petar Kanavelić in Croatian; 27 December 1637 – 16 January 1719) was a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n writer who wrote poems in Croatian and Italian. He is regarded as one of the greatest Croatian writers of the 17th century.

Biography

Canavelli was born in Curzola (Korčula), part of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

(now modern

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

), the last male descendant of an old, wealthy and distinguished noble family of the town. In Curzola he attended local schools. He undertook clerical studies. He also studied law in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

. This was a quite common practice for the time for patricians from all over the

. He worked in a series of town offices, mostly in legal matters, trade and the management of property. He was also a teacher, lawyer and in 1665 became a member of the Great Council. In Zara (Zadar), he was Chancellor of the Venetian ''Governor General'' of Dalmatia, C. Cornaro and A. Priuli (1665–68). In 1673 he became the representative of the Curzola community in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

. He died in Curzola in 1719.

Literary activity

Canavelli's literary work is one of the widest and most diverse in the 17th century. He wrote poems, epic works and songs in Croatian and

. He occasionally composed wedding songs. The oldest preserved traces of Canavelli's literary work was a written confirmation from 1660 for which he was paid 12 Lira for performing the song on the occasion of the arrival of General A. Cornaro, in the town of Curzola. This is one of the oldest recorded fee payments in the history of Croatian literature. During his stay in Zadar, Canavelli was in Spalato (Split) in 1667 and participated in the

Italian comedy (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...

''La moglie di Quattro Care'' which was by Venetian librettist Giacinto Andrea Cicognini. He traveled throughout Dalmatia and the

Republic of Ragusa hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world" , population_estimate = 90 000 in the XVI Century , currency = ...

. There he gained a status within the Ragusan community who were mostly the leading writers and intellectuals of their time (Nikola Bunic, Baro Bettera, Sisko Gundulic, George Lucic). Later he became a member of the ''Akademije Ispraznijeh''. His works have been translated in Italian, Hungarian and

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. There is a primary school named after him in the town of

Korčula Korčula (, it, Curzola) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanavelic, Peter 1637 births 1719 deaths Croatian writers 17th-century Italian writers 17th-century Italian male writers 17th-century Croatian people People from Korčula Republic of Venice poets Venetian Slavs

Biography

Literary activity

See also

References