Fos'colo

Fos'colo, UGO, originally NICCOLO, an Italian author, was born in Zante, one of the Ionian isles, on 26th January 1778. His education was begun at Spalato, and completed at Padua, where Cesarotti inspired him with his first love for literature. A man of passionate temperament, and withal an ardent patriot, Foscolo was bitterly disappointed when by the Treaty of Campo Formio Venice was given to Austria, and his disappointment found vent in the Lettre di Jacopo Ortis (1802), a sort of political Werther. Still, believing that France was destined to liberate Italy, he served in the French armies, and was present at the battle of the Trebbia and the siege of Genoa. But, becoming finally undeceived as to Napoleon's intentions with regard to his native land, he returned to Milan, where he published in 1807 his best poem, I Sepolcri, a work composed in the spirit of the ancient classic writers, and remarkable for its smooth and polished versification. About this time he wrote a translation of Sterne's Sentimental Journey, and two tragedies, Ajace and Ricciarda, both showing political tendencies. In 1809 he was appointed to the chair of Eloquence in Pavia, and occupied the post until the professorship was suppressed in all the colleges of Italy. His inaugural address, Dell' Origine e dell' Ufficio della Letteratura, although full of the same love of classic beauty which marks the Sepolcri, is turgid and affected in style, like the man himself. When in 1814 the Austrians entered Milan, Foscolo withdrew to Switzerland, and in 1816 he went on to London. There some of his best writings were published—viz. Essays on Petrarcha, Discorso sul testo del Decamerone, Discorso sul testo di Dante, and various papers in the Quarterly and Edinburgh Reviews. His last years were embittered by poverty and neglect. He died October 10, 1827, of dropsy, near London. His remains were finally deposited in the church of Santa Croce, Florence, in 1871. His works and letters were published at Florence in 12 vols. by Le Monnier (1850-62). See Lives by Pecchio (1836), Carrer (1842), Artusi (1878), Antona Traversi (1884), and De Winckels (2 vols. 1885-86).