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Rhegium

(Encyclopedia)Rhegium rēˈjēəm [key], ancient city, S Italy, on the Strait of Messina. It is the modern Reggio di Calabria. Founded (c.720 b.c.) as a colony of Chalcis, many Messenians later settled there. It wa...

Ferrante, Elena

(Encyclopedia)Ferrante, Elena, pseud. of the contemporary writer often considered the finest Italian novelist of her generation; the details of her personal life are a closely guarded secret. Her novels, the first ...

Medici, Alessandro de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Alessandro de' mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], 1510?–37, duke of Florence (1532–37); probably an illegitimate son of Lorenzo de' Medici, duke of Urbino. His prominence began when ...

Gozzi, Gasparo

(Encyclopedia)Gozzi, Gasparo gôtˈtsē [key], 1713–86, Italian critic and poet; brother of Carlo Gozzi. Struggling to support a large family, he wrote plays, stories, articles, and poems. He founded the literar...

Forlì

(Encyclopedia)Forlì fōrlēˈ [key], city, capital of Forlì prov., Emilia-Romagna, N central Italy. It is...

Capuana, Luigi

(Encyclopedia)Capuana, Luigi lo͞oēˈjē käpwäˈnä [key], 1839–1915, Italian critic and novelist. His activities included teaching, scientific study, and politics. He wrote in almost every genre, but his repu...

Sanmicheli, Michele

(Encyclopedia)Sanmicheli, Michele mēkĕˈlā sänmēkĕˈlē [key], c.1484–1559, Italian architect and engineer. He was influenced by Bramante's works in Rome, and after 1527 worked primarily in Verona, where hi...

Como, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Como, Lake kōˈmō [key], Ital. Lago di Como or Lario, c.56 sq mi (145 sq km), 30 mi (48 km) long and from 1⁄2 to 21⁄2 mi (0.8–4 km) wide, in Lombardy, N Italy. Lake Como is a natural widening ...

Singer, Israel Joshua

(Encyclopedia)Singer, Israel Joshua, 1893–1944, Polish-American novelist and playwright who wrote in Yiddish, older brother of Isaac Bashevis Singer. Living variously in Poland and Russia, he earned a literary re...

Kraus Trujillo, Alfredo

(Encyclopedia)Kraus Trujillo, Alfredo, 1927–99, Spanish lyric tenor, b. Canary Islands. Widely considered the finest light tenor of his time, he was admired for his bright timbre, fine phrasing, and acting skill....