Gozzi, Carlo, Conte [key], 1720–1806, Italian dramatist. A defender of traditional Italian culture, he wrote comedies based on the old commedia dell'arte. To show the potential of the old forms and to ridicule Goldoni, their adversary, he conceived the idea of dramatizing the tales of Basile's Pentamerone. Thus he founded the fable play in Italy. His Fiaba dell'amore delle tre melarance (1761; set to music by Prokofiev as The Love for Three Oranges) was followed by more plays of the type, among them Re Turandot (1762), made into an opera by Puccini. Written in Venetian dialect, these were very popular in their day.
See Gozzi's memoirs (1797; tr. with a critical essay by J. A. Symonds, 1890).
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