Author: CASTI, Giovanni Battista
Biography:
CASTI, Giovanni Battista (1724-1804: ProQuest Biographies)
An Italian poet, satirist, and librettist, he is also known as Giambattista Casti. He was born in Acquapendente, Lazio, Italy, to Francis Casti and his wife Francesca Pegna. In 1736 he enrolled in the seminary at Montefiascone, Lazio, and was educated there until 1744 when he took up a position in the church. Although Casti remained in clerical positions until 1760, the church did not suit his lively character. His Di Trè Guili, a sonnet sequence, was issued in 1762 as by Niceste Abideno; it was translated into English by Montagu Montagu, q.v., and published in 1826. Casti became the court poet to Grand Duke Leopold II in Florence and subsequently moved to Vienna before touring the royal courts of Europe in the entourage of Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg. He was made poet laureate for Austria in 1792. Casti also wrote libretti and collaborated with Antonio Salieri. Towards the end of his life he moved to Paris where he completed and published his allegory on the workings of monarchies, Gli Animali Parlanti, in 1802. He died in Paris on 16 Feb. 1804. Some of Casti’s works—particularly his verse tales in ottava rima, Novelle Galanti (1766-1802)—were considered obscene but they proved enduringly popular and WERE translated into many languages. (ProQuest Biographies 24 Apr. 2024) HJ
Other Names:
- G. B. Casti
- Giambattista Casti