author
Luigi Capranica
1821–1891
A Roman nobleman who turned history into patriotic fiction, he wrote novels and plays meant to stir feeling as well as entertain. His life crossed literature and the Risorgimento, giving his work a strong sense of public purpose.
1 Audiobook
Le donne di Nerone : romanzo
by Luigi Capranica
About the author
Born in Rome on November 13, 1821, Luigi Capranica del Grillo was an Italian novelist, dramatist, and patriot. Reference works agree that he fought for the Roman Republic in 1849, and after its fall he settled in Milan, where much of his literary career developed.
Capranica is remembered above all for historical novels and dramas written with a patriotic, educational aim. Sources such as Treccani note works including Fra Paolo Sarpi and Papa Sisto, and describe his writing as closely tied to the ideals of the Risorgimento.
He died in Milan on January 7, 1891. Today he is chiefly of interest as a 19th-century writer who joined literary storytelling with political feeling, using the past to speak to the hopes of his own time.