Google Doodle celebrates the 200th birthday of Italian poet, philosopher and scholar Giacomo Leopardi. Leopardi is recognised as one of the greatest writers of the 19th century for his poetry and philosophical works.
Leopardi was born in the small provincial town of Recanati in 1798, at a time of political turmoil in Italy and Europe caused by the French Revolution. He was an avid reader from an early age, spending much of his time in his father's library, and his aristocratic background gave him access to private tutoring by priests from an early age.
At a very young age, Leopardi developed fluency in Latin, ancient Greek and Hebrew which later helped him become a philologist, scholar studying history and the development of languages.
“Leopardi fell in love with ideas from the Enlightenment, a philosophical movement that promoted reason and logic over superstition. He was passionate about his beliefs and went on to become one of the most radical thinkers of his time.” the search giant explained
By the age of 14, Leopardi had translated many Latin and Greek classics. He had also written a manifesto criticising one of Rome's most influential men called Pompeo in Egitto (Pompey in Egypt). Later on, he went on to write many philological works and poems like L'appressamento della morte (The Approach of Death), Inno a Nettuno (Hymn to Neptune), and Le rimembranze (Memories).
The Italian poet was marred by ill health for most of his life and eventually became blind in one eye. Leopardi wrote lyric poetry for the rest of his career like Canti (songs) and Canzoniere (Songbook). He explored the themes of patriotism, unrequited love and reflections on human existence in his writings. Leopardi settled in Naples in 1833 and died owing to edema and other complications in the year 1837.
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