Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni (November 21, 1692 – December 20, 1768) was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 and librettist. As a poet Frugoni was one of the best of the school of the Arcadian Academy, and his lyrics and pastorals had great facility and elegance. His collected works were published at Parma in 10 volumes in 1799, and a more complete edition appeared at Lucca

Lucca

Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...

 in the same year in 15 volumes.

Biography

Born at Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

, he was originally destined for the church and at the age of fifteen, against his will, was shut up in a convent. In the following year he was forced to make monastic vows, but had no liking for this life. He acquired considerable reputation as an elegant writer both of Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 and Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 prose and verse; and from 1716 to 1724 he filled the chairs of rhetoric

Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...

 at Brescia

University of Brescia

The University of Brescia is a college situated in Brescia, Italy. It was founded in 1982 and is branched in 4 Faculties.The first phase goes back to 1964, when the chamber of commerce of Brescia tried to create a biennial degree course of engineering; unfortunately the cost was too high...

, Rome

University of Rome La Sapienza

The Sapienza University of Rome, officially Sapienza – Università di Roma, formerly known as Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a coeducational, autonomous state university in Rome, Italy...

, Genoa

University of Genoa

The University of Genoa is one of the largest universities in Italy.Located in Liguria on the Italian Riviera, the university was founded in 1471. It currently has about 40,000 students, 1,800 teaching and research staff and about 1,580 administrative staff.- Campus :The University of Genoa is...

, Bologna

University of Bologna

The Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating university in the world, the word 'universitas' being first used by this institution at its foundation. The true date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088...

 and Modena successively, attracting by his brilliant fluency a large number of students at each university.

Through Cardinal Bentivoglio he was recommended to Antonio Francesco Farnese, Duke of Parma

Antonio Farnese, Duke of Parma

Antonio Farnese was the eighth and ultimate Farnese Duke of Parma and Piacenza. He married, in 1727, Enrichetta d'Este of Modena with the intention of begetting an heir; the marriage, however, was childless, leading to the succession of Charles of Spain–whose mother, Elisabeth Farnese, was...

, who appointed him his poet laureate

Poet Laureate

A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...

; and he remained at the court of Parma until Antonio's death, after which he returned to Genoa. Shortly afterwards, through Bentivoglio's influence, he obtained from the pope the remission of his monastic vows, and succeeded in recovering a portion of his paternal inheritance. After the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle he returned to the court of Parma, and there devoted the later years of his life chiefly to poetical composition.

Source

• Marco Russo, Tommaso Traetta: i Libretti della Riforma - Parma 1759-61, Facoltà di Lettere di Trento, Trento 2005;
• Marco Russo, Tommaso Traetta: Maestro di cappella napoletano, Edizioni S. Marco dei Giustiniani, Genova 2006.
• Fabrizio Cassoni, Gianfranco Spada, Le Feste d'Imeneo, Tommaso Traetta a Parma, Traettiana, London 2010.