Cesarotti

Cesarotti, MELCHIORE, an excellent Italian poet, was born 15th May 1730, at Padua, where he filled the Greek and Hebrew chairs. He gained a reputation by his translation of Macpherson's Ossian (1763). The versification of this work, like that of his free translation of the Iliad, under the title of La Mort di Ettore, was admired by Alfieri, and Cesarotti unquestionably threw fresh life into Italian literature. His Ragionamento sulla Filosofia delle Lingue (8 vols. 1785) and Ragionamento sulla Filosofia del Gusto are his best works. He died 3d November 1808.