Dante Alighieri is an Italian poet and writer, theologian, politician. His contribution to the development of not only Italian but also world literature is invaluable. He is the author of The Divine Comedy and the creator of the nine circles of hell, heaven and purgatory.

Childhood and youth

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence. His full name is Durante degli Alighieri. The exact date of the poet's birth is unknown; presumably, he was born between May 21 and June 1, 1265.

According to family tradition, his ancestors were from the Roman family of the Elisei. They took part in the founding of Florence. His great-great-grandfather Kachchagvida was a knight under Konrad III, went with him on crusades and died in battle with the Muslims.

His great-great-grandmother was Aldigieri da Fontana, a woman from a wealthy family. She named her son Alighieri. Later, this name turned into a well-known surname.

Dante's grandfather was expelled from Florence during the confrontation between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. He returned to his homeland only in 1266. His father Alighieri II was far from politics, so he remained in Florence all the time.

Dante was an educated man, he had knowledge in the natural sciences, in medieval literature. He also studied the heretical teachings of that era. Where he got this knowledge is unknown. But his first mentor was at that time the popular scientist and poet Brunetto Latini.

Literature

It is not known for certain when Dante became interested in writing, but the creation of the work "New Life" dates back to 1292. Not all poems written by that time were included in it. The book alternated between poetry and prose. This is a kind of confession written by Dante after the death of Beatrice. Also in the "New Life" many poems were dedicated to his friend Guido Cavalcanti, by the way, also a poet. Scholars later called this book the first autobiography in literary history.

Like his grandfather, Dante became interested in politics at a young age. At the end of the 13th century, Florence was involved in a conflict between the Emperor and the Pope. Alighieri took the side of the opponents of papal power. At first, luck “smiled” at the poet, and soon his party managed to rise above the enemy. In 1300 he was elected to the post of prior.

However, a year later the political situation changed dramatically - power passed into the hands of the supporters of the Pope. He was expelled from Florence in a fictitious case of bribery. He was also accused of anti-state activities. Dante was fined - 5,000 florins, and his property was arrested, and later he was sentenced to death. At that time, he was outside of Florence, therefore, having learned about this, he decided not to return to the city. So he began to live in exile.

For the rest of his life, Dante wandered around cities and countries, found shelter in Verona, Bologna, Ravenna, and even lived in Paris. All subsequent works after the "New Life" were written already in exile.

In 1304 he began to write philosophical books "Feast" and "On popular eloquence." Unfortunately, both works remained unfinished. This is due to the fact that Dante began work on his main work - The Divine Comedy.

It is noteworthy that the poet originally called his work simply “Comedy”. The word "divine" was added to the title by Giovanni Boccaccio, Alighieri's first biographer.

He has been writing this work for 15 years. Dante personified himself with the main lyrical hero. The poem is based on his journey through the afterlife, to which he goes after the death of his beloved Beatrice.

The work consists of three parts. The first is "Hell", consisting of nine circles, where sinners are ranked according to the severity of their fall. Here Dante placed political and personal enemies. Also in "Hell" the poet left those who, as he believed, lived un-Christianly and immorally.

"Purgatory" he described with seven circles that correspond to the seven deadly sins. "Paradise" is performed in nine circles, which are named after the main planets of the solar system.

This work is still shrouded in legends. For example, Boccaccio claimed that after his death, Dante's children could not find the last 13 songs of "Paradise". And they discovered them only after the father himself came to his son Jacopo in a dream and told him where they were hidden.

Personal life

The main muse of Dante was Beatrice Portinari. He first saw her when he was only 9 years old. Of course, at such a young age, he did not realize his feelings. He met the girl only nine years later, when she had already married another man. Only then did he realize how much he loved her. Beatrice was for the poet the only love of his life.

He was such a shy and shy young man that in all the time he only spoke to his beloved twice. And the girl did not even suspect about his feelings for herself. On the contrary, Dante seemed arrogant to her, since he did not talk to her.

Beatrice died in 1290. She was only 24 years old. The exact cause of her death is unknown. According to one version, she died during childbirth, according to another, she became a victim of the plague. For Dante, this was a blow. Until the end of his days, he loved only her and cherished her image.

A couple of years later he married Gemma Donati. She was the daughter of the leader of the Florentine party, Donati, with whom the Alighieri family was at enmity. Of course, it was a marriage of convenience, and, most likely, political. True, later the couple had three children - sons Pietro and Jacopo and daughter Antonia.

Despite this, when Dante set about creating the Comedy, he thought only of Beatrice, and it was written in the glorification of this girl.

Death

The last years of his life, Dante lived in Ravenna under the auspices of Guido da Polenta, he was his ambassador. One day he went to Venice to conclude a peace treaty with the Republic of St. Mark. On the way back, the poet fell ill. Dante died on the night of September 13-14, 1321. The cause of his death was malaria.

Dante Alighieri was buried in the church of San Francesco in Ravenna, on the territory of the monastery. In 1329, the cardinal demanded that the monks commit the poet's body to public burning. How the monks were able to "get out" of the current situation is unknown, but no one touched the remains of the poet.

Sarcophagus of Dante Alighieri

On the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the birth of Dante Alighieri, it was decided to restore the church. In 1865, builders found a wooden box in the wall, on which the inscription was carved - "Dante's bones were placed here by Antonio Santi in 1677." This find became an international sensation. No one knew who this Antonio was, but some suggested that it could well be a relative of the artist.

Dante's remains were transferred to the poet's mausoleum in Ravenna, where they remain to this day.

Bibliography

• 1292 - "New Life"
• 1300 - "Monarchy"
• 1305 - "On popular eloquence"
• 1307 - "Feast"
• 1320 - "Eclogues"
• 1321 - "The Divine Comedy"

Dante Alighieri - the largest Italian poet, literary critic, thinker, theologian, politician, author of the famous "Divine Comedy". There is very little reliable information about the life of this person; their main source is an artistic autobiography written by him, in which only a certain period is described.

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, in 1265, on May 26, in a well-born and wealthy family. It is not known where the future poet studied, but he himself considered the education received insufficient, therefore he devoted a lot of time to independent education, in particular, the study of foreign languages, the work of ancient poets, among which he gave special preference to Virgil, considering him his teacher and "leader".

When Dante was only 9 years old, in 1274, an event occurred that became a landmark in his life, including his creative one. At the celebration, his attention was attracted by a peer, a neighbor's daughter - Beatrice Portinari. Ten years later, as a married lady, she became for Dante that beautiful Beatrice, whose image illuminated his whole life and poetry. The book entitled A New Life (1292), in which he spoke in poetic and prose lines about his love for this young woman who died untimely in 1290, is considered the first autobiography in world literature. The book glorified the author, although this was not his first literary experience, he began writing back in the 80s.

The death of his beloved woman forced him to go headlong into science, he studied philosophy, astronomy, theology, turned into one of the most educated people of his time, although at the same time the baggage of knowledge did not go beyond the medieval tradition based on theology.

In 1295-1296. Dante Alighieri declared himself and as a public, political figure, participated in the work of the city council. In 1300 he was elected a member of the college of six priors that governed Florence. In 1298 he married Gemma Donati, who was his wife until his death, but this woman always played a modest role in his fate.

Active political activity was the reason for the expulsion of Dante Alighieri from Florence. The split in the Guelph party, in which he was a member, led to the fact that the so-called whites, in whose ranks the poet was, were subjected to repression. A charge of bribery was brought against Dante, after which he was forced, leaving his wife and children, to leave his native city so as not to return to it ever again. It happened in 1302.

Since that time, Dante constantly wandered around the cities, traveled to other countries. So, it is known that in 1308-1309. he visited Paris, where he participated in open debates organized by the university. The name of Alighieri was twice included in the list of persons subject to amnesty, but both times it was deleted from there. In 1316, he was allowed to return to his native Florence, but on condition that he publicly admits the wrongness of his views and repents, but the proud poet did not do this.

Since 1316, he settled in Ravenna, where he was invited by Guido da Polenta, the ruler of the city. Here, in the company of his sons, the daughter of his beloved Beatrice, admirers, friends, the last years of the poet passed. It was during the period of exile that Dante wrote the work that glorified him for centuries - "Comedy", to the name of which several centuries later, in 1555, the word "Divine" will be added in the Venetian edition. The beginning of work on the poem dates back to about 1307, and Dante wrote the last of the three parts (“Hell”, “Purgatory” and “Paradise”) shortly before his death.

He dreamed of becoming famous with the help of the Comedy and returning home with honors, but his hopes were not destined to come true. Having fallen ill with malaria, returning from a trip to Venice on a diplomatic mission, the poet died on September 14, 1321. The Divine Comedy was the pinnacle of his literary activity, but his rich and versatile creative heritage is not limited to it alone and includes, in particular, philosophical treatises, journalism, and lyrics.

The name of the famous Italian poet Dante Alighieri is world famous. Quotes from his works can be heard in a variety of languages, since almost the whole world is familiar with his creations. They have been read by many, translated into different languages, studied in different parts of the planet. On the territory of a large number of European countries there are societies that systematically collect, research and disseminate information about his legacy. Anniversaries of Dante's life are among the major cultural events in the life of mankind.

Step into immortality

At the time when the great poet was born, great changes awaited mankind. This was on the eve of a grandiose historical upheaval that radically changed the face of European society. Medieval peace, feudal oppression, anarchy and disunity were a thing of the past. There was an emergence of commodity producers. There were times of power and prosperity of nation-states.

Therefore, Dante Alighieri (whose poems have been translated into different languages ​​​​of the world) is not only the last poet of the Middle Ages, but also the first writer of the New Age. He tops the list, consisting of the names of the titans of the Renaissance. He was the first to begin the fight against violence, cruelty, obscurantism of the medieval world. He was also among those who were the first to raise the banner of humanism. This was his step into immortality.

The youth of the poet

Dante Alighieri, his biography is very closely connected with the events that characterized the social and political life of Italy at that time. He was born into a native Florentine family in May 1265. They represented a poor and not very noble feudal family.

His father worked for a Florentine banking firm as a lawyer. He died very early, during the youth of his later famous son.

The fact that political passions were in full swing in the country, bloody battles constantly took place within the walls of his native city, Florentine victories followed defeats, could not escape the attention of the young poet. He was an observer of the collapse of the Ghibelline power, the privileges of the grandees and the consolidation of the Polanian Florence.

Dante's education took place within the walls of an ordinary medieval school. The young man grew up extremely inquisitive, so the meager, limited school education was not enough for him. He constantly updated his knowledge on his own. Very early the boy began to be interested in literature and art, paying special attention to painting, music and poetry.

The beginning of the literary life of the poet

But Dante's literary life begins at a time when the juices of the civil world were eagerly drinking literature, art, crafts. Everything that before that could not fully declare its existence burst out. In those kinds of art began to appear like mushrooms in a field of rain.

For the first time as a poet, Dante tried himself during his stay in the "new style" circle. But even in those fairly early poems, one cannot fail to notice the presence of a violent surf of feelings that shattered the images of this style.

In 1293, the poet's first book, entitled "New Life", was published. This collection contained thirty poems, the writing of which dates back to 1281-1292. They had an extensive prose commentary, characterized by an autobiographical and philosophical-aesthetic character.

In the verses of this collection, the poet's love story was first told. The object of his adoration was back in those days when the boy was barely 9 years old. This love was destined to last all his life. Very rarely, she found her manifestation in the form of rare chance meetings, fleeting glances of her beloved, in her cursory bows. And after 1290, when death took Beatrice, the poet's love becomes his personal tragedy.

Active political activity

Thanks to the New Life, the name of Dante Alighieri, whose biography is equally interesting and tragic, becomes famous. In addition to a talented poet, he was an outstanding erudite, one of the most educated people in Italy. The range of his interests was unusually large for that time. He studied history, philosophy, rhetoric, theology, astronomy, geography. He also paid special attention to the system of Eastern philosophy, the teachings of Avicenna and Averroes. The great ancient poets and thinkers - Plato, Seneca, Virgil, Ovid, Juvenal - did not escape his attention. Particular attention to their creations will be given to the humanists of the Renaissance.

Dante was constantly nominated by the Florentine commune for honorary positions. He performed very responsible In 1300, Dante Alighieri was elected to the commission, which consisted of six priors. Its representatives ruled the city.

Beginning of the End

But at the same time there is a new aggravation of civil strife. Then the Guelph camp itself became the center of the height of hostility. It split into "white" and "black" factions, which were very hostile to each other.

The mask of Dante Alighieri among the Guelphs was white. In 1301, with the support of the pope, the "black" Guelphs seized power over Florence and began to mercilessly crack down on their opponents. They were sent into exile and executed. Only the absence of Dante in the city saved him then from reprisal. He was sentenced to death in absentia. Burning awaited him immediately after arriving on Florentine land.

Period of exile

At that time there was a tragic fracture in the life of the poet. Left without a homeland, he is forced to wander around other cities of Italy. For some time he was even outside the country, in Paris. They were glad to see him in many palazzos, but he did not stay anywhere. He felt great pain from the defeat, and also missed Florence very much, and the hospitality of the princes seemed to him humiliating and insulting.

During the period of exile from Florence, the spiritual maturation of Dante Alighieri took place, whose biography until that time was very rich. During his wanderings, there was always enmity and confusion before his eyes. Not only his homeland, but the whole country was perceived by him as "a nest of untruth and anxiety." It was surrounded on all sides by endless strife between city-republics, cruel strife between principalities, intrigues, foreign troops, trampled gardens, devastated vineyards, exhausted, desperate people.

A wave of popular protests began in the country. The emergence of new ideas, the popular struggle provoked the awakening of Dante's thoughts, urging him to search for all sorts of ways out of the current situation.

The maturation of a dazzling genius

During the period of wanderings, hardships, mournful thoughts about the fate of Italy, the genius of Dante matured. At that time, he acts as a poet, activist, publicist and research scientist. At the same time, Dante Alighieri wrote The Divine Comedy, which brought him immortal world fame.

The idea of ​​writing this work appeared much earlier. But in order to create it, you need to live a whole human life filled with torment, struggle, sleepless, sizzling work.

In addition to the Comedy, other works by Dante Alighieri (sonnets, poems) are also published. In particular, the treatise "Feast" refers to the first years of emigration. It touches not only theology, but also philosophy, morality, astronomy, natural philosophy. In addition, "Feast" was written in the national language of Italian, which was very unusual at that time. After all, then almost all the works of scientists were published in Latin.

In parallel with the work on the treatise, in 1306 he saw the world and a linguistic work called "On Folk Eloquence". This is the first European scientific study of Romance linguistics.

Both of these works remained unfinished, as new events directed Dante's thoughts in a slightly different direction.

Unfulfilled dreams of returning home

Dante Alighieri, whose biography is known to many contemporaries, constantly thought about returning. For days, months and years, he tirelessly and persistently dreamed about it. This was especially evident during the work on the Comedy, when creating its immortal images. He forged the Florentine speech and raised it to the national political level. He firmly believed that it was with the help of his brilliant poetic creation that he would be able to return to his native city. His expectations, hopes and thoughts of returning gave him the strength to complete this titanic feat.

But he was not destined to return. He finished writing his poem in Ravenna, where he was granted asylum by the authorities of the city. In the summer of 1321, the creation of Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy" was completed, and on September 14 of the same year, the city buried the genius.

Death from believing in a dream

Until the end of his life, the poet sacredly believed in peace in his native land. This mission he lived. For her sake, he went to Venice, which was preparing a military attack on Ravenna. Dante really wanted to convince the leaders of the Adriatic Republic that the war should be abandoned.

But this trip not only did not bring the desired results, but also became fatal for the poet. On his way back, there was a swampy lagoon area, where the scourge of such places “dwelled” - malaria. It was she who became the reason for the crushing of the poet's forces, torn by very hard work, for several days. Thus ended the life of Dante Alighieri.

And only after a few decades did Florence realize who she had lost in the face of Dante. The government wanted to take the remains of the poet from the territory of Ravenna. Until our time, his ashes are far from the homeland, which rejected and condemned him, but for which he remains the most devoted son.

Dante Alighieri is the greatest and most famous person born in the Middle Ages. His contribution to the development of not only Italian, but also the entire world literature cannot be estimated. Today, people often look for Dante Alighieri's biography in brief. But to be interested in such a superficial interest in the life of such a great man who made a huge contribution to the development of languages ​​is not entirely correct.

Biography of Dante Alighieri

Speaking about the life and work of Dante Alighieri, it is not enough to say that he was a poet. The area of ​​his activity was very extensive and multifaceted. He was interested not only in literature, but also in politics. Today Dante Alighieri, whose biography is filled with interesting events, is called a theologian.

Beginning of life

The biography of Dante Alighieri began in Florence. Family legend, which for a long time was the basis of the Alighieri family, said that Dante, like all his relatives, was a descendant of a great Roman family, which laid the foundation for the foundation of Florence itself. Everyone considered this legend true, because the grandfather of Dante's father was in the ranks of the army that participated in the Crusade under the command of the Great Conrad the Third. It was this ancestor of Dante who was knighted, and soon died tragically during the battle against the Muslims.

It was this relative of Dante, whose name was Kachchagvida, who was married to a woman who came from a very rich and noble family - Aldigieri. Over time, the name of a well-known family began to sound a little different - "Alighieri". One of the children of Cacchagvid, who later became Dante's grandfather, often suffered persecution from the lands of Florence in those years when the Guelphs constantly fought battles with the peoples of the Ghibellines.

Biography Highlights

Today you can find many sources that briefly talk about the biography and work of Dante Alighieri. However, such a study of the personality of Dante will not be entirely correct. A brief biography of Dante Alighieri will not be able to convey all those seemingly unimportant biographical elements that so strongly influenced his life.

Speaking about the date of birth of Dante Alighieri, no one can say the exact date, month and year. However, it is generally accepted that the main date of birth is the time that Bocaccio named, being a friend of Dante, - May 1265. The writer Dante himself wrote about himself that he was born under the Gemini zodiac, which suggests that the time of Alighieri's birth is the end of May - the beginning of June. What is known about his baptism is that this event took place in 1266, in March, and his name at baptism sounded like Durante.

Education Dante Alighieri

Another important fact that is mentioned in all the short biographies of Dante Alighieri was his education. The first teacher and mentor of the young and still unknown Dante was a popular writer, poet and at the same time a scientist - Brunetto Latini. It was he who laid the first poetic knowledge in the young head of Alighieri.

And today the fact remains unknown where Dante received his further education. Scientists studying history unanimously say that Dante Alighieri was very educated, knew a lot about the literature of antiquity and the Middle Ages, was well versed in various sciences, and even studied heretical teachings. Where could Dante Alighieri get such wide knowledge? In the biography of the poet, this has become another mystery that is almost impossible to solve.

For a long time scientists from all over the world tried to find the answer to this question. Many facts indicate that Dante Alighieri could have received such extensive knowledge at the university, which was located in the city of Bologna, since it was there that he lived for some time. But, since there is no direct evidence of this theory, it remains only to assume that it is so.

The first steps in creativity and tests

Like all people, the poet had friends. His closest friend was Guido Cavalcanti, who was also a poet. It was to him that Dante devoted a huge number of works and lines of his poem "New Life".

At the same time, Dante Alighieri is known as a fairly young public and political figure. In 1300 he was elected to the post of prior, but soon the poet was expelled from Florence along with his comrades. Already on his deathbed, Dante dreamed of being on his native land. However, throughout his life after his exile, he was never allowed to visit the city, which the poet considered his homeland.

Years spent in exile

The expulsion of their hometown made Dante Alighieri, whose biography and books are filled with bitterness from separation from his native land, a wanderer. At the time of such large-scale persecutions in Florence, Dante was already one of the famous lyric poets. His poem "New Life" had already been written by this time, and he himself worked hard on the creation of "Feast". Changes in the poet himself were very noticeable in his further work. Exile and long wandering left an indelible imprint on Alighieri. His great work "The Feast" was supposed to be the answer to the 14 canzones already accepted in society, but it was never completed.

Development in the literary path

It was during his exile that Alighieri wrote his most famous work, Comedy, which began to be called "divine" only years later. Alighieri's friend, Boccaccio, greatly contributed to the change of name.

There are still many legends about Dante's Divine Comedy. Boccaccio himself claimed that all three canticles were written in different cities. The last part, "Paradise", was written in Ravenna. It was Boccaccio who said that after the poet died, his children for a very long time could not find the last thirteen songs that were written by the hand of the great Dante Alighieri. This part of the "Comedy" was discovered only after one of the sons of Alighieri dreamed of the poet himself, who told where the manuscripts were. Such a beautiful legend is not actually refuted by scientists today, because there are a lot of oddities and mysteries around the personality of this creator.

The personal life of the poet

In the personal life of Dante Alighieri, everything was far from ideal. His first and last love was the Florentine girl Beatrice Portinari. Having met his love back in Florence, as a child, he did not understand his feelings for her. Meeting Beatrice nine years later, when she was already married, Dante realized how much he loved her. She became for him the love of his life, inspiration and hope for a better future. The poet was shy all his life. During his life, he spoke only twice with his beloved, but this did not become an obstacle for him in love for her. Beatrice did not understand, did not know about the feelings of the poet, she believed that he was simply arrogant, therefore he did not talk to her. This was precisely the reason that Portinari once felt a strong resentment towards Alighieri and soon stopped talking to him at all.

For the poet, this was a strong blow, because it was under the influence of the very love that he felt for Beatrice that he wrote most of his works. Dante Alighieri's poem "New Life" was created under the influence of Portinari's words of greeting, which the poet regarded as a successful attempt to attract the attention of his beloved. And Alighieri completely devoted his “Divine Comedy” to his only and unrequited love for Beatrice.

tragic loss

Alighieri's life changed a lot with the death of his beloved. Since at the age of twenty-one Bice, as the girl was affectionately called by relatives, was married to a rich and influential man, it remains surprising that exactly three years after her marriage, Portinari died suddenly. There are two main versions of death: the first is that Bice died during a difficult childbirth, and the second is that she was very ill, which eventually led to her death.

For Alighieri, this loss was very big. For a long time without finding his place in this world, he could no longer feel sympathy for anyone. Based on the awareness of his precarious position, a few years after the loss of the woman he loved, Dante Alighieri married a very rich lady. This marriage was created solely by calculation, and the poet himself treated his wife absolutely coldly and indifferently. Despite this, in this marriage, Alighieri had three children, two of whom eventually followed the path of their father and became seriously interested in literature.

Death of a great writer

Death overtook Dante Alighieri suddenly. In 1321, at the end of the summer, Dante went to Venice to finally make peace with the famous church of St. Mark. During his return to his native land, Alighieri suddenly fell ill with malaria, which killed him. Already in September, on the night of the 13th to the 14th, Alighieri died in Ravenna, without saying goodbye to his children.

There, in Ravenna, Alighieri was buried. The famous architect Guido da Polenta wanted to build a very beautiful and rich mausoleum for Dante Alighieri, but the authorities did not allow this, because the poet spent a huge part of his life in exile.

To date, Dante Alighieri is buried in a beautiful tomb, which was built only in 1780.

The most interesting fact remains that the well-known portrait of the poet has no historical basis and authenticity. This is how Bocaccio represented him.

Dan Brown in his book "Inferno" writes a lot of biographical facts about the life of Alighieri, which are really recognized as reliable.

Many scholars believe that Beatrice's beloved was invented and created by time, that such a person never existed. However, no one can explain how, in this case, Dante and Beatrice could become a symbol of great and unhappy love, standing on the same level as Romeo and Juliet or Tristan and Isolde, no one can.

Dante Alighieri (Italian Dante Alighieri), full name Durante degli Alighieri (second half of May 1265, baptized March 26, 1266 - September 13 or 14, 1321). The greatest Italian poet, theologian, politician, one of the founders of the literary Italian language. The creator of "Comedy" (later received the epithet "Divine", introduced by Boccaccio), in which a synthesis of late medieval culture was given.

According to family tradition, Dante's ancestors came from the Roman family of the Elisei, who participated in the founding of Florence. Kachchagvida, Dante's great-great-grandfather, participated in the crusade of Conrad III (1147-1149), was knighted by him and died in battle with the Muslims. Cacchagvida was married to a lady from the Lombard family of Aldigieri da Fontana. The name "Aldigieri" was transformed into "Alighieri"; this was the name of one of the sons of Kachchagvidy. The son of this Alighieri, Bellincione, Dante's grandfather, who was expelled from Florence during the struggle of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, returned to his native city in 1266, after the defeat of Manfred of Sicily at Benevento. Alighieri II, Dante's father, apparently did not take part in the political struggle and remained in Florence.

According to Boccaccio, Dante was born in May 1264. Dante himself announces himself (Comedy, Paradise, 22) that he was born under the sign of Gemini. It is also known that Dante was baptized on May 26, 1265 (on the first Holy Saturday after his birth) under the name Durante.

Dante's first mentor was the then-famous poet and scholar Brunetto Latini. The place where Dante studied is unknown, but he received wide knowledge in ancient and medieval literature, in the natural sciences and was familiar with the heretical teachings of that time.

In 1274, a nine-year-old boy admired an eight-year-old girl, the daughter of a neighbor, Beatrice Portinari, at a May holiday - this is his first biographical memory. He had seen her before, but the impression of this meeting was renewed in him when nine years later (in 1283) he saw her again as a married woman and this time was carried away by her. Beatrice becomes for life the "mistress of his thoughts", a wonderful symbol of that morally uplifting feeling that he continued to cherish in her image, when Beatrice had already died (in 1290), and he himself entered into one of those business marriages, by political calculation which were accepted at the time.

The Dante Alighieri family sided with the Florentine Cerchi party (Italian Cerchi), which was at enmity with the Donati party. However, Dante Alighieri married Gemma Donati, daughter of Manetto Donati. The exact date of his marriage is unknown, the only information is that in 1301 he already had three children (Pietro, Jacopo and Antonia). When Dante Alighieri was expelled from Florence, Gemma remained in the city with her children, preserving the remnants of her father's property.

Later, when Dante Alighieri composed his Comedy in praise of Beatrice, Gemma was not mentioned in it in a single word. In his last years he lived in Ravenna; gathered around him were his sons, Jacopo and Pietro, poets, his future commentators, and Antonia's daughter; only Gemma lived away from the whole family. Boccaccio, one of the first biographers of Dante Alighieri, summarized all this: as if Dante Alighieri married under duress and persuasion, therefore, during the long years of exile, he never thought to call his wife. Beatrice determined the tone of his feelings, the experience of exile - his social and political views and their archaism.

The first works of Dante date back to the 1280s, and in 1292 the New Life was written, which scientists called the first autobiography in the history of world literature.

The first act mention of Dante Alighieri as a public figure dates back to 1296 and 1297, already in 1300 or 1301 he was elected prior. In 1302 he was exiled with his party of White Guelphs and never saw Florence again, dying in exile.

Dante Alighieri, a thinker and poet, constantly looking for a fundamental basis for everything that happened in him and around him, it was this thoughtfulness, the thirst for common principles, certainty, inner integrity, the passion of the soul and boundless imagination that determined the qualities of his poetry, style, imagery and abstractness .

Love for the Florentine Beatrice took on a mysterious meaning for him; he filled every moment of existence with it. Her idealized image occupies a significant place in Dante's poetry. In 1292, he began his career with a story about his young love that renewed his life: La Vita Nuova, composed of sonnets, canzones and a prosaic commentary on love for Beatrice.

Bold and graceful, sometimes deliberately rude images-fantasies are formed in his Comedy into a certain, strictly calculated pattern. Later, Dante found himself in the whirlpool of parties, he was even an inveterate municipalist; but he had a need to understand for himself the basic principles of political activity, so he writes his Latin treatise "On the Monarchy" ("De Monarchia"). This work is a kind of apotheosis of the humanitarian emperor, next to which he would like to place an equally ideal papacy.

The years of exile were for Dante years of wandering. Already at that time he was a lyric poet among the Tuscan poets of the "new style" - Chino from Pistoia, Guido Cavalcanti and others. His "La Vita Nuova" had already been written; exile made him more serious and strict. He starts his "Feast" ("Convivio"), an allegorical-scholastic commentary on the fourteen canzones. But the "Convivio" was never finished: only the introduction and interpretation of the three canzones were written. Not finished, breaking off at the 14th chapter of the second book, and a Latin treatise on the popular language, or eloquence ("De vulgari eloquentia").

During the years of exile, three canticles of the Divine Comedy were created gradually and under the same working conditions. The time of writing each of them can only be determined approximately. Paradise was completed in Ravenna, and there is nothing incredible in Boccaccio's story that after the death of Dante Alighieri, his sons could not find the last thirteen songs for a long time, until, according to legend, Dante dreamed of his son Jacopo and suggested where they lie.

There is very little factual information about the fate of Dante Alighieri; his trace has been lost over the years. At first, he found shelter with the ruler of Verona, Bartolomeo della Scala; the defeat in 1304 of his party, which tried to achieve by force the establishment in Florence, doomed him to a long wandering in Italy. He later arrived in Bologna, in Lunigiana and Casentino, in 1308-1309. found himself in Paris, where he spoke with honor at public debates, common in universities of that time. It was in Paris that Dante found the news that Emperor Henry VII was going to Italy. The ideal dreams of his "Monarchy" resurrected in him with renewed vigor; he returned to Italy (probably in 1310 or at the beginning of 1311), tea for her renewal, for himself - the return of civil rights. His "message to the peoples and rulers of Italy" is full of these hopes and enthusiastic confidence, however, the idealist emperor died suddenly (1313), and on November 6, 1315, Ranieri di Zaccaria of Orvietto, viceroy of King Robert in Florence, confirmed the decree of exile in relation to Dante Alighieri, his sons and many others, condemning them to death if they fall into the hands of the Florentines.

From 1316-1317 he settled in Ravenna, where he was summoned to rest by the lord of the city, Guido da Polenta. Here, in the circle of children, among friends and admirers, the songs of Paradise were created. In the summer of 1321, Dante, as the ambassador of the ruler of Ravenna, went to Venice to conclude peace with the Republic of St. Mark. On the way back, Dante fell ill with malaria and died in Ravenna on the night of September 13-14, 1321.

Dante was buried in Ravenna; the magnificent mausoleum that Guido da Polenta prepared for him was not erected. The modern tomb (also called the "mausoleum") was built in 1780.

The familiar portrait of Dante Alighieri lacks credibility: Boccaccio depicts him as bearded instead of the legendary clean-shaven one, however, in general, his image corresponds to our traditional idea: an oblong face with an aquiline nose, large eyes, wide cheekbones and a prominent lower lip; eternally sad and concentrated-thoughtful. In the treatise "On the Monarchy", Dante Alighieri, the politician, had an effect; to understand the poet and the person, the most important thing is to get acquainted with his trilogy "La Vita Nuova", "Convivio" and "Divina Commedia".