Maria Maddalena Morelli Fernandez (17 March 1727,
Pistoia
Pistoia (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about north-west of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typic ...
– 8 November 1800,
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
), also known by the Arcadian pseudonym Corilla Olimpica, was a Florentine Italian poet, ''improvisatrice'', and musician. The official poetess to the grand ducal court in
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
(1765–1775), she won fame as the foremost female performer of the
improvised poetry then popular in Italy, and was controversially
crowned with the
laurel wreath
A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph, a wreath (attire), wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cher ...
on the Roman
Capitol
Capitol, capitols or The Capitol may refer to:
Places and buildings Legislative building
* United States Capitol, in Washington, D.C.
* National Capitol of Colombia, in Bogotá
* Palacio Federal Legislativo, in Caracas, Venezuela
* National Ca ...
in 1776, an event later fictionalised by
Madame de Staël Madame may refer to:
* Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French
* Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel
* ''Madame'' ( ...
in ''
Corinne, or Italy
''Corinne, or Italy'' (, also known as ''Corinne'', is a novel by the Genevan and French writer Germaine de Staël, published in 1807. It relates a love story between an Italian poet, Corinne, and Lord Oswald Nelvil, an English nobleman. The ...
''.
References
Further reading
* Ademollo, Alessandro (1887)
''Corilla Olimpica'' Florence: C. Ademollo.
* Burney, Charles (1771).
''The Present State of Music in France and Italy''. London: T. Becket & Co.
* Caesar, Michael (2005)
"Improvised poetry" In ''The Oxford Companion to Italian Literature''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Catucci, Marco (2012)
"MORELLI, Maria Maddalena" ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani''. Vol. 75. (Treccani.it)
* Goldberger, Avriel H., trans. (1987). Madame de Staël (1807)
''Corinne, or, Italy'' New Brunswick N.J.: Rutgers University Press.
* La Cecilia, Giovanni (1861). ''Storie segrete delle famiglie reali''
Vol. 4 Genoa: Cecchi & Armanino.
* Machen, Arthur, trans. (1902)
''The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt'' Vol. 4. New York: G. Putnam's Sons; London: Elek Books.
* Mardikes, Catherine, ed. (2010)
"Morelli, Maria Maddalena, 1727?-1800" ''Italian Women Writers''. University of Chicago Library.
* Natali, Giulio (1934)
"MORELLI, Maria Maddalena" ''Enciclopedia Italiana''. (Treccani.it)
"Morèlli, Maria Maddalena"(2014). ''Enciclopedia on line.'' (Treccani.it)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morelli, Maria Maddalena
1727 births
1800 deaths
Italian women poets
Italian poets
18th-century Italian women writers
Poets laureate