Alessandro Verri

Alessandro Verri was an Italian historian, philosopher, and writer, born in Milan in 1741 into an aristocratic family. He was a prominent figure in the Lombard Enlightenment alongside his brother Pietro Verri and Cesare Beccaria. Verri studied jurisprudence at the University of Pavia and was involved in the Accademia dei Pugni. Initially embracing Enlightenment thought and contributing to the magazine *Il Caffè*, he later became critical of its radical aspects. His journey to Paris and London in 1766–1767 exposed him to the philosophes, which he found unsettling. He eventually settled in Rome, where he immersed himself in classical studies, translated Shakespeare, and developed a neoclassical style. His major works include the novels *Le avventure di Saffo, poetessa di Mitilene* (1780), *Le notti romane* (1792–1804), and *La vita di Erostrato* (1815). In his later years, Verri adopted a counter-revolutionary stance, rejecting Enlightenment progress and criticizing the philosophes for the French Revolution. He died in Rome in 1816. He also published translations of the *Iliad* and *Daphnis and Chloe*.