Ferrari, PAOLO

Ferrari, PAOLO, Italian dramatist, was born at Modena in 1822, and produced his first comedy, Bartolommeo il Calzolaio, in 1847. Of his many later works, Goldoni (1852) and Parini e la Satira (1857) rank as the finest examples of modern Italian comedy, and are distinguished—as, indeed, are most of his plays—by a piquancy and sparkling dialogue, as well as cleverness of construction and occasional sharp contrasts, such as have been mostly identified with French comedy. A collection of his Opere drammatiche was published at Milan in 14 vols. (1877–80). In 1860 he became professor of History at Modena, and afterwards in the Academy at Milan, where he died 10th March 1889.