Luigi Groto, also called Cieco d'Adria or Cieco D'Hadria (the blind man of Adria) (7 September 1541,

Adria Adria is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Rovigo in the Veneto region of northern Italy, situated between the mouths of the rivers Adige and Po River, Po. The remains of the Etruria, Etruscan city of Atria or Hatria are to be found below ...

– 13 December 1585,

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

), was a blind Italian poet, lutenist, playwright and actor. Groto was born in

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

and lost his sight eight days after birth. He studied philosophy and literature with such success that at the age of 15 he was already a public orator. He was often in Venice as an envoy from Veneto, and entertained with public performances of his songs. In 1565 he was appointed president of the newly founded Academy of Illustrati of Adria. He died in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, having just come from the theater where he had played the role of the blind King Oedipus. In 1623

Filippo Bonaffino Filippo Bonaffino (fl. 1623) was an Italian composer. Life and career Filippo Bonaffino is thought to have been born in Messina. In 1623, he published a book of 18 Madrigali concertati for two to four voices with continuo, titled ''Madrigali con ...

set some of his poetry to music in a book of madrigals.

Works

Selected works include: *''Orazione'' (Orationi volgari et latine) (Venice in 1586 and more often, newly edited by Carlo Bocchi, Venice 1817) *''La Calisto'', pastoral drama (Venice 1575), and the tragedies *''La Hadriana'' (Venice 1582), *''La Dalida'' (Venice 1583) and *''Isac, Rappresentation Nuova'' (Venice 1607), the comedies *''La Emilia'' (Venice 1572), *''Il Thesoro'' (Venice 1583) and *''La Alteria'' (Venice 1587); also: ''Canzone del morte nella clar''. M. Agostin Barbarigo (Venice 1572) *''Delle Rime'' (Venice 1587), translations, letters (Famigliari Humanities, Venice 1616)

References

Sources

*Luigia Zilli: ''La ricezione francese del "Pentimento amoroso" pastoral Groto di Luigi, Cieco d'Adriatic''. Udine: Doretti, 1984. *Giovanni Benvenuti: ''Il cieco di Adria. Vita ed opere di Luigi Grotto''. Sala Bolognese: Forni, 1984. *Giorgio Brunello, ''E il suo tempo Groto Luigi'' (Volume 1) uratori Opera Theatre: Giorgio Brunello Volume: 1, Atti del convegno di studi, Adria, 27-29 aprile 1984th Rovigo: Minelliana, 1987. *Giorgio Brunello, ''Opere (Luigi Groto)'' (Volume 2). Rovigo: Minelliana, 1987. *Andrea Mott Petavrakis: ''Studies on the lyrical work of Luigi Grotos''. Hamburg: A Novel. D University seminar. Hamburg, 1992 (dissertation). {{DEFAULTSORT:Groto, Luigi 1541 births 1588 deaths Republic of Venice poets People from Adria Male actors from Veneto Italian poets Italian male poets Italian lutenists Italian male actors