Jun 29, 2023
Giacomo Leopardi's 225th Birthday
This Doodle’s Key Themes
Today’s Doodle celebrates the birthday of Giacomo Leopardi, an Italian poet, philosopher, and scholar. The world regards him as one of the greatest Italian poets of the nineteenth century.
He was born on this day in 1798 in the small provincial town of Recanati. From a young age, he was an avid reader who loved passing time in his father's library. He became fluent in Latin, ancient Greek, and Hebrew during this period, which laid the foundation for him to become a philologist — a scholar who studies the history and development of languages. He went on to translate several Latin and Greek classics.
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.
At 14, he wrote Pompeo in Egitto (Pompey in Egypt), a manifesto criticizing one of the most powerful figures in Rome. In the following years, he wrote various philological works and notable poems such as L'appressamento della morte (The Approach of Death), Inno a Nettuno (Hymn to Neptune), and Le rimembranze (Memories).
Leopardi spent the rest of his career creating lyric poetry, including Canti (Songs) and Canzoniere (Songbook). His writing often explored patriotism, unrequited love, and profound reflections on human existence — making him a precursor to Existentialism. One of his final literary pieces was Operette morali (Small Moral Works), a collection of witty philosophical essays written in an ironic style.
Happy 225th birthday, Giacomo Leopardi!
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