Gian Giorgio Trissino

Gian Giorgio Trissino (8 July 1478 – 8 December 1550), also called Giovan Giorgio Trissino, was an Italian Renaissance humanist, poet, dramatist, diplomat, and grammarian.

Trissino was born of a patrician family in Vicenza. He was exiled from Venice for political reasons, and traveled to Germany and Lombardy. He eventually came under the protection of Pope Leo X, Pope Clement VII, and Pope Paul III.

He had the advantages of a good humanistic training, studying Greek under Demetrius Chalcondylas at Milan and philosophy under Niccolò Leoniceno at Ferrara. His culture recommended him to the humanist Pope Leo X, who in 1515 sent him to Germany as his nuncio; later on Pope Clement VII showed him special favour, and employed him as ambassador.

In 1532, the Emperor Charles V made Trissino a count palatine. In spite of the banishment from Vicenza pronounced upon him in 1509 because his family had favoured the plans of Maximilian, he was held in high esteem throughout Italy. Wherever he made his home, it was a center for gatherings of scholars, littérateurs, and the most cultured men of the time. His family life was far from happy, apparently through little fault of his own.

In the history of modern European literature Trissino occupies a prominent place because of his tragedy Sophonisba (c. 1515; published 1524). Based on the life of the Carthaginian lady Sophonisba and inspired by ancient tragedies, it was perhaps the first tragedy in early modern times to show deference to the classic rules. It served as an example for European tragedies throughout the 16th century. It was translated into French by Mellin de Saint-Gelais, and was performed with great acclaim in 1556 at the Château de Blois.

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