Alessandro Manzoni

Alessandro Manzoni (1785–1873) was an Italian novelist and poet, the author of The Betrothed (I Promessi Sposi), the supreme masterpiece of Italian historical fiction. Set in seventeenth-century Lombardy under Spanish rule, the novel follows two lovers separated by a powerful nobleman, and is considered a founding text of modern Italian.

Manzoni's long, meticulous revision of the book in the Tuscan language helped create a single literary Italian. Devout yet reformist, he was also a dramatist and lyricist famous for the patriotic chorus "The Fifth of May." Italy honoured him with full civic mourning on his death, and his novel remains a school text for every Italian generational student.