Antonio Schinella Conti (1677–1749), also known by his religious title as Abate Conti, was an Italian writer, translator, mathematician, philosopher and physicist. He was born in
Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
on 22 January 1677 and died there on 6 April 1749.
Life
In 1699 Conti became an
Oratorian Father in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
but ceased to fulfil priestly duties after 1708. His placement, however, had allowed him to follow studies in philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, science and medicine. This strengthened his belief in the ability of the human intellect to investigate reality and to come to conclusions at odds with the traditional religious interpretations current until then and to formulate his own theories.
In 1713 he left for Paris, where he befriended the scientific thinkers
Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle,
Nicolas Malebranche
Nicolas Malebranche ( , ; 6 August 1638 – 13 October 1715) was a French Oratorian Catholic priest and rationalist philosopher. In his works, he sought to synthesize the thought of St. Augustine and Descartes, in order to demonstrate the ...
and
Charles François de Cisternay du Fay
Charles François de Cisternay du Fay (14 September 1698 – 16 July 1739) was a French chemist and superintendent of the Jardin du Roi.
He discovered the existence of two types of electricity and named them " vitreous" and " resinous" (later ...
. In 1715 he left for London to observe an eclipse of the sun and to visit
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
, for whom he acted as intermediary in the
Leibniz-Newton calculus controversy. During this period he also began a lasting friendship with
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (née Pierrepont; 15 May 168921 August 1762) was an English aristocrat, writer, and poet. Born in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England. In 1712, Lady Mary married Edward Wortley Montagu, who later served a ...
, whose poems he translated, and who made him the recipient of her more philosophical ''Turkish Embassy Letters'' (1717–18). Starting in autumn 1716, he left to spend six months in dialogue with thinkers in the Netherlands and Germany, and then returned to England, continuing both scientific and literary projects there.
In 1718 he returned to Paris, where he continued to play an active part in the intellectual life of the French capital and during that time began a verse translation of Jean Racine's ''
Athalie
''Athalie'' (, sometimes translated ''Athalia'') is a 1691 play, the final tragedy of Jean Racine, and has been described as the masterpiece of "one of the greatest literary artists known" and the "ripest work" of Racine's genius. Charles Augus ...
'' and, with the help of the exiled politician
Viscount Bolingbroke
Viscount Bolingbroke is a current title in the Peerage of Great Britain created in 1712 for Henry St John. He was simultaneously made Baron St John, of Lydiard Tregoze in the County of Wilts. Since 1751, the titles are merged with the titles of ...
, continued his translation of Alexander Pope's ''
The Rape of the Lock
''The Rape of the Lock'' is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope. One of the most commonly cited examples of high burlesque, it was first published anonymously in Lintot's ''Miscellaneous Poems and Translations'' (May 1712) ...
'', although this was not published until after his death. Once back in Italy in 1726, he continued to encourage scientific studies at university level and with the support of
Celia Grillo Borromeo
Clelia Grillo Borromeo Arese or Celia Grillo Borromeo (1684 – 23 August 1777) was an Italian (Genovese) natural philosopher, mathematician and scientist.
Life and education
Borromeo was born in Genoa, the daughter of duke Marcantonio of Mondr ...
drew up a plan for an Italian scientific academy. During much of this time his scientific work was subject to censorship, although a selection of his literary works appeared in 1739.
Free-thinking pillar of the
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
though he was, however, Conti could not entirely free himself from all the prejudices of his times. Coming from a patrician background and generally mixing with the titled and royalty, he vented his sarcasm upon the social pretensions of the Venetian composer
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...
. Again, despite enjoying the friendship and patronage of some of the foremost women intellectuals in Britain, France and Italy, he was at the same time advancing pseudo-scientific arguments to demonstrate not simply women's physical but also their mental inferiority.
As a dramatist and admirer of Shakespeare, Conti had begun his own
blank verse
Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and P ...
''Giulio Cesare'' in London and completed it in 1726. It was later followed by three more Roman tragedies: ''Giunio Bruto'' (1743), ''Marco Bruto'' (1744) and ''Druso'' (1748), which appeared with individual prefaces by the author. To his own plays may be added publication of the revised translation of ''Athalie'' and another of Voltaire's drama ''Mérope'' (Venice 1744). A dramatic excursion of a different sort was the series of experimental long cantatas he wrote for the Venetian composer
Benedetto Marcello
Benedetto Giacomo Marcello (; 31 July or 1 August 1686 – 24 July 1739) was an Italian composer, writer, advocate, magistrate, and teacher.
Life
Born in Venice, Benedetto Marcello was a member of a noble family and in his compositions he is f ...
: the duet, ''Il Timoteo'', with a text translated from
John Dryden
''
John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate.
He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...
; then five monologues, ''Cantone'', ''Lucrezia'', ''Andromaca'', ''Arianna abandonnata'', and finally ''Cassandra''.
During his life, Conti was made the subject of an ink drawing by the caricaturist
Pier Leone Ghezzi
Pier Leone Ghezzi (28 June 1674 – 6 March 1755) was an Italian Rococo painter and caricaturist active in Rome.
Biography
Ghezzi was born and died in Rome. He trained under his father, Giuseppe Ghezzi, who also trained Antonio Amorosi. ...
. After his death a statue of him was commissioned by his home town in 1781 from the local sculptor Felice Chiereghin.
Photo online
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Works
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schinella Conti, Antonio
1677 births
1749 deaths
18th-century Italian male writers
Italian translators
Italian dramatists and playwrights
18th-century Italian mathematicians
18th-century Italian philosophers
Fellows of the Royal Society
18th-century Italian historians
18th-century Italian physicists