Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Antonio Manzoni was an Italian poet, novelist and philosopher. He is famous for the novel The Betrothed (1827), generally ranked among the masterpieces of world literature. The novel is also a symbol of the Italian Risorgimento, both for its patriotic message and because it was a fundamental milestone in the development of the modern, unified Italian language. Manzoni also contributed to the stabilization of the modern Italian language and helped to ensure linguistic unity throughout Italy. He was an influential proponent of Liberal Catholicism in Italy. His work and thinking has often been contrasted with that of his younger contemporary Giacomo Leopardi by critics.
Portrait of Alessandro Manzoni by Francesco Hayez (Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, 1841)
Frontispiece of The Betrothed in the second definitive edition of 1840–1842
Manzoni's funeral procession in Milan
The Betrothed (Manzoni novel)
The Betrothed is an Italian historical novel by Alessandro Manzoni, first published in 1827, in three volumes, and significantly revised and rewritten until the definitive version published between 1840 and 1842. It has been called the most famous and widely read novel in the Italian language.
Frontispiece of 1842 edition
A view of Lake Como, chapter 1, engraving by Francesco Gonin (1808–1889)
Fra Cristoforo and Don Rodrigo
The Nun of Monza