A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Rationalists/Alfieri, Count Vittorio


Alfieri, Count Vittorio, Italian tragedian. B. Jan. 17, 1749. He spent six years (1766-72) travelling over Europe, and then devoted himself to the composition of tragedy. Between 1776 and 1782 he produced fourteen tragedies of such merit that he is classed as one of the greatest Italian tragedians. The complete edition of his works comprises twenty-two volumes (1805-15). Three volumes of his tragedies were published in English in 1815. Alfieri was a strong Republican and Rationalist, and a warm admirer of England. In his Della Tirannide (2 vols., 1801 see especially ch. viii) he rejects all religion, remarking that "the heretics are as stupid as the Catholics." D. Oct 8 1803.