GOZZI, Carlo, Count (1722-1806), an Italian dramatist, was descended from an old Venetian family, and was born in March 1722. Compelled by the embarrassed condition of his father’s affairs to procure the means of self-support, he, at the age of sixteen, joined the army in Dalmatia; but three years afterwards he returned to Venice, where he soon made a reputation for himself as the wittiest member of the Granelleschi society, to which the publication of several satirical pieces had gained him admission. This society, nominally devoted to conviviality and wit, had also serious literary aims, and was especially zealous to preserve the Tuscan literature pure and untainted by foreign influences. The displacement of the old Italian comedy by the dramas of Chiari and Goldoni founded on French models threatened defeat to all their efforts; and in 1757 Gozzi came to the rescue by publishing a satirical poem, Tartaηa degli influssi per l'aηno bisestile, and in 1761 by his comedy, Fiaba dell'amore delle tre melarancie, a parody of the manner of the two obnoxious poets, founded on a fairy tale. For its representation he obtained the services of the Sacchi company of players, who, on account of the popularity of the comedies of Chiari and Goldoni—which afforded no scope for the display of their peculiar talents— had been left without employment; and as their satirical powers were thus sharpened by personal enmity, the play met with extraordinary success. Struck by the effect produced on the audience by the introduction of the supernatural or mythical element, which he had merely used as a convenient medium for his satirical purposes, Gozzi now produced a series of dramatic pieces based on fairy tales, which for a period obtained great popularity, but after the breaking up of ...the Sacchi company were completely disregarded. They have, however, obtained high praise from Goethe, Schlegel, Madame de Staël, and Sismondi; and one of them, Re Turandote, was translated by Schiller. In his later years Gozzi set himself to the production of tragedies in which the comic element was largely introduced; but as this innovation proved unacceptable to the critics, he bad recourse to the Spanish drama, from which he obtained models for various pieces which, however, met with only equivocal success. He died 4th April 1806.
His collected works were published under his own superintendence, at Venice, in 1792, in 10 volumes; and his dramatic works, translated into German by Werthes, were published at Bern in 1795. See Gozzi’s work, Memοrie inutili della vita di Carlo Gozzi, 3 vols., Venice, 1797, translated into French by Paul de Musset, Paris, 1848; F. Horn, Ueber Gozzis dramatische Poesie, Venice, 1803; Gherardihi, Vita di Gasp. Gozzi, 1821; “Charles Gozzi,” by Paul de Musset, in the Revue des Deux Mondes for 15th November 1844; and Magτini, Carlo Gozzi e lafiabe: saggi slorici, biografici, c critici, Cremona, 1876.
GOZZI, Gasparo, Count (1713-1786), eldest brother of Carlo Gozzi, was born 4th December 1713. In 1739 he married the poetess Luise Bergalli, and she undertook the management of the theatre of San Angelo, Venice, he supplying the performers with dramas chiefly translated from the French. The speculation proved unfortunate, but meantime he had attained a high reputation for his contributions to the Gazzetta Veneta, and he soon came to be known as one of the ablest critics and purest and most elegant stylists in Italy. For a considerable period he was censor of the press in Venice, and in 1774 he was appointed to reorganize the university system at Padua. He died at Padua, 26th December 1786.
His priucipal writings are Osservαtore Veneta Periodico, on the model of the English Spectator, and distinguished by its high moral tone and its light and pleasant satire; Bettere famigliari, a collection of short racy pieces in prose and verse, on subjects of general interest; Sermoni, poems in blank verse after the manner of Horace; Il mondo morale, a personification of human passions with inwoven dialogues in the style of Lucian; and Giudizio degli antichi poeti sopra la moderna censura di Dante, a defence of the great poet against the attacks of Bettinelli. He also translated various works from the French and English, including Marmontel’s Tales and Pope’s Essay on Criticism. His collected works were published at Venice, 1794-98, in 12 volumes, and several editions have appeared since.
[487 words — estimated reading time: 3 minutes]