Gasparo, count Gozzi (4 December 1713 – 26 December 1786) was a Venetian critic and dramatist.

Life and works

Gasparo Gozzi was the first of eleven children born to the Venetian Count Jacopo Antonio and Angela Tiepolo, who was also of noble family. His younger brother was

Carlo Gozzi __NOTOC__ Carlo, Count Gozzi (; 13 December 1720 – 4 April 1806) was an Italian ( Venetian) playwright and champion of ''Commedia dell'arte''. Early life Gozzi was born and died in Venice; he came from a family of minor Venetian aristocracy, t ...

. After early studies at home with tutors, he entered the College of

Murano Murano is a series of islands linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy. It lies about north of Venice and measures about across with a population of just over 5,000 (2004 figures). It is famous for its glass making. It was o ...

, where he acquired a solid liberal arts education and then followed courses in mathematics and law, although his interests were already firmly turned to literature. In 1739, he married the poet Luisa Bergalli, by whom he was eventually to have five children. In 1747 they undertook the management of the theatre of Sant'Angelo in Venice, with Gozzi supplying the performers with

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

s chiefly translated from the French. The idea had been to remedy their precarious financial situation but the theatre lost money and they had to give it up the following year, although he continued his work as a dramatist. Gozzi went on to build a reputation for works of moral seriousness in both prose and verse, in particular the 14 prose ''Dialoghi dell’isola di Circe'' (Dialogues from Circe's Island) that were published over the four-year period (1760–64). These drew their inspiration from Giovan Battista Gelli's ''La Circe'' dialogues of two centuries earlier.Brigitte Urbani, ''Vaut-il "mieux mille fois être ânes qu’être hommes"? Quelques réécritures de La Circe de Giovan Battista Gelli'', INT Chroniques 69/70. 200
pp. 163-81
/ref>

Ulysses Ulysses is the Latin name for Odysseus, a legendary Greek hero recognized for his intelligence and cunning. He is famous for his long, adventurous journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, as narrated in Homer's Odyssey. Ulysses may also refer ...

has been given leave by

Circe In Greek mythology, Circe (; ) is an enchantress, sometimes considered a goddess or a nymph. In most accounts, Circe is described as the daughter of the sun god Helios and the Oceanid Perse (mythology), Perse. Circe was renowned for her vast kn ...

to talk to the men on her island that have changed into beasts. These include figures from fable ( The fox and the crow, XIII) and from myth and give a picture of society at variance. Far from needing the intervention of Circe, the victims find their natural condition as soon as they set foot on the island. The sole exception is the bear, a satirist who had dared to criticize Circe and had been changed as a punishment (IX). It is this noble critic of the human condition (representing Gozzi himself) who is the only one that wishes to regain his human form. In 1760 Gozzi had launched the ''Gazzetta Veneta'' as a Venetian equivalent of the English

Spectator ''Spectator'' or ''The Spectator'' may refer to: *Spectator sport, a sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators, or watchers, at its matches *Audience Publications Canada * '' The Hamilton Spectator'', a Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, ...

, followed by ''L'Osservatore Veneto''. Although neither were particularly successful, he had made himself known as one of the ablest critics and purest and most elegant stylists in Italy. From 1762 he was compensated for the disappointment of his journalistic failure by receiving his first public offices of some importance, first in the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

and then for the Republic. In this role he wrote, among other things, three reports on the state of the art of printing in Venice. The first outlined Venetian publishing history from its origins to the eighteenth century, researching the causes of this decline and proposing remedies, while the others envisaged projects for its successful future development. For a considerable period he was censor of the press in Venice, and in 1774 he was appointed to reorganize the university system at Padua, where he remained till his death. His tomb is at the San Michele cemetery on the

Isola di San Michele The Island of San Michele (, ; ) is an island in the Venetian Lagoon, Veneto, northern Italy. The island contains San Michele in Isola, a Roman Catholic church, as well as the San Michele Cemetery, Venice’s principal cemetery. It is associate ...

, along with his brother

's grave.

Works

His principal writings are: *''Lettere famigliari'' (1755), a collection of short racy pieces in prose and verse, on subjects of general interest *''Sermoni'', poems in blank verse after the manner of

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

(the first 12 published in 1763, six more added posthumously) *''Giudizio degli antichi poeti sopra la moderna censura di Dante'' (1755), a defence of the great poet against the attacks of Bettinelli. He also translated various works from the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, including

Jean-François Marmontel Jean-François Marmontel (; 11 July 1723 – 31 December 1799) was a French historian, writer and a member of the Encyclopédistes movement. Biography He was born of poor parents at Bort, Limousin (today in Corrèze). After studying wi ...

's ''Tales'' and

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...

's ''Essay on Criticism''. His collected works were published at Venice, 1794–1798, in 12 volumes, and several editions have appeared since.

References

* Also Domenico Proietti's article in the
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani
', Volume 58 (2002) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gozzi 1713 births 1786 deaths Burials at Isola di San Michele 18th-century Venetian writers Italian literary critics Italian male non-fiction writers 18th-century Italian journalists Dramatists and playwrights from the Republic of Venice