Giovanni Boccaccio Biography
(One of the Greatest European Prose Writers of His Time)
Birthday: June 16, 1313 (Gemini)
Born In: Certaldo, Italy
Giovanni Boccaccio was a famed Italian writer and poet, who is also remembered as an important figure of Renaissance humanism. He was close to Italian scholar and poet Petrarch. Of Boccaccio’s works, the most prominent was ‘The Decameron.’ His other notable works were ‘On Famous Women,’ ‘On the Genealogy of the Gods of the Gentiles,’ and the ‘Teseida.’ He wrote most of his imaginative literature in Tuscan Italian, while most of his humanist works were written in Latin. He was known for re-inventing the ottava rima and for his realistic dialogues, as opposed to the set pattern of plots rampant in the works of medieval writers. He was inspired by Dante’s works. Though he was a literary genius, Boccaccio spent most of his later life struggling with financial issues. He had even thought of burning his works once. He breathed his last in Certaldo. His works have inspired many renowned writers and poets, including the likes of Chaucer and Shakespeare.