Considered to be one of the greatest Italian novelists of all time for his famous novel "I promessi sposi" (The Betrothed), a cornerstone of Italian literature, Manzoni had the main merit of laying the foundations for the modern novel.
He was born in Milan in 1785.The young Alessandro was a difficult adolescent; between first loves and first poetic experiences he led a dissipated life, also frequenting morally dangerous friendships, from which his father tried to distance him by sending him to Venice in 1803. The palazzo Bellavite Baffo was his home and he lived there from 1803 to 1804.
Manzoni is said to have returned to Venice for a brief period in 1819, where his friendship with the civil servant Rubbi allowed him to get his hands on the correspondence of the so-called Trial of Orgiano, an episode that took place in the Vicentine town that closely resembled the Manzonian story, to the point that a Manzonian trail was created in this town at the foot of the Berici hills.
He died in Milan in 1873, at the age of eighty-eight. He was given a solemn funeral and buried in the city's monumental cemetery.
"...Venice,24 March 1804
My dear Pagani
What will you say about my tardiness in replying to you? Attribute it to anything but a lack of thoughtfulness and friendship. Various brigues, a bit of idleness, procrastination, these are the real reasons. Add the illness of my cousin, in whose house I find myself".
(Letter from Manzoni)
