Dante Alighieri

Who is Dante Alighieri?

Dante Alighieri was a poet, writer, and political thinker born in Florence during the late Middle Ages. He is best known for the Divine Comedy (Divina Commedia), an epic poem in three parts—Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso—describing an allegorical journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. Written in the Tuscan vernacular rather than Latin, the work helped establish the Italian language as a literary medium and earned Dante the title 'the Supreme Poet' (il Sommo Poeta). He was active in Florentine politics, aligned with the White Guelphs, and was exiled from Florence in 1302 during factional conflict, never to return. He spent his later years in cities including Verona and Ravenna, where he died and is buried. His writings on language, philosophy, and love, including La Vita Nuova, profoundly shaped Western literature.

Sources: Dante Alighieri, La Divina Commedia (composed circa 1308–1321) · Dante Alighieri, La Vita Nuova (circa 1294) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, entry 'Dante'