
author
1265–1321
Best known for The Divine Comedy, this towering poet helped shape Italian literature by writing in the Tuscan vernacular instead of Latin. Exiled from Florence, he turned personal loss, politics, and spiritual vision into one of the most influential works in world literature.

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by R. W. (Richard William) Church, Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri, Elizabeth Harrison

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri
Born in Florence in 1265, Dante Alighieri was a poet, thinker, and public figure whose writing became central to Italian and European literature. He wrote at a time when Latin still dominated serious writing, but he chose to work in the vernacular, helping give literary prestige to the language that would later develop into standard Italian.
His life was deeply marked by Florence’s political conflicts. After taking part in civic life, he was exiled from the city in 1302 and never returned. During those years away from home, he wrote the work for which he is most famous, The Divine Comedy, a vast poem that follows a journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.
Dante died in Ravenna in 1321. Along with The Divine Comedy, works such as Vita Nuova and De vulgari eloquentia show the range of his interests, from love poetry to language and philosophy. More than seven centuries later, his writing still stands out for its moral force, vivid imagination, and lasting influence on how people picture the afterlife.