author
1512–1564
A Renaissance doctor and playwright from Lucca, he wrote one of the notable Italian comedies of the 1500s while still a young medical student. His life moved between theater, scholarship, and papal medicine, giving his work an unusual mix of wit and learning.
by Agostino Ricchi
Born in Lucca on May 31, 1512, Agostino Ricchi was an Italian physician and playwright. He studied medicine at the University of Bologna, and while still very young he wrote I tre tiranni, an allegorical comedy that was performed in Bologna in 1530 during the celebrations for the coronation of Emperor Charles V.
That early success brought him recognition at court, but Ricchi did not remain only a man of letters. He continued his medical studies in Padua, later lived in Venice, and worked as secretary to Pietro Aretino. Alongside his literary interests, he devoted serious attention to classical medicine and helped publish a ten-volume edition of Galen's works in the 1540s.
Ricchi eventually became physician to Pope Julius III and kept that role under later popes as well. He died in Lucca on March 6, 1564. Today he is remembered as a figure who moved easily between Renaissance comedy, humanist scholarship, and medical learning.