Elio Lampridio Cervino or Cerva (, ; 1463–1520) was a Ragusan poet who wrote in Latin.

Life

Cerva was born in 1463, belonging to one of the most important noble families of Ragusa, the House of Cerva. He spent several years in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where he arrived still child, to succeed his uncle Stephan, ambassador to

Pope Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, ; born Francesco della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included ...

. Here, in the circle of Pomponio Leto, his poetic talent awoke. He studied ancient drama and made a study of the comedies of

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andro ...

. It was in this period that he produced ''Lexicon'' (1480), an encyclopedic dictionary in Latin, 429 pages long and '' in quarto'' format (33 x 23 cm). He returned to Ragusa in 1490, and became a spokesman for the Republic. Finally, Cerva decided to withdraw to the

Ombla The Ombla is a short river in Croatia, northeast of Dubrovnik. Its course is approximately long, and it empties into the Rijeka Dubrovačka, ria formed by the Adriatic Sea near Komolac in Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Rijeka Dubrovačka is actua ...

river island, where he remained until his death in 1520. Although called a poet, he published only four short components (all in Latin) during his life. His main work, ''De Epidauro'', was a draft of an epic poem, about the Ottoman invasions of Ragusan territory. A staunch supporter of Latin, he disliked Slavic, which was spoken in the Republic in great numbers. He declared his nostalgia for the times when no language other than Latin had been officially used in Ragusa, and wished not to hear the "infecting Slavic language".Documentation Centre of Dalmatian Culture
, ''Uomini Illustri, Elio Lampridio Cerva, poeta incoronato'' He knew and wrote solely in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, as mentioned by him in one of his works:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cerva, Elio People from the Republic of Ragusa 1463 births 1520 deaths 15th-century writers in Latin People from Dubrovnik Ragusan poets 15th-century Croatian poets Ragusan nobility

Life

See also

References