Carlo Gozzi

Born in Venice on December 13, 1720, Carlo Gozzi was an Italian playwright from an aristocratic family. He is remembered above all for defending the imaginative, mask-filled spirit of commedia dell’arte at a time when more realistic styles were gaining ground in Italian theater.

His most celebrated plays include The Love for Three Oranges and Turandot, works that blend satire, fairy-tale invention, and theatrical spectacle. Those stories traveled widely and later inspired important operatic adaptations, helping keep his name alive long after his own era.

Gozzi died in Venice on April 4, 1806. Today he stands out as a writer who used wit, fantasy, and stage magic to create plays that still feel vivid and surprising.