Maria Luisa Cicci (14 September 1760 - 8 March 1794) was an Italian woman of letters and 18th century poet, a member of a member of the literary-scholarly societies (academies) of Arcadians of Pisa and Intronati of Siena; she was a prominent sponsor of literary salons in Pisa.
Biography
Cicci was born in Pisa in 1760. The family was originally from
Fucecchio
Fucecchio () is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany. The main economical resources of the city are the leather industries, shoes industry and other manufacturing activities, although in the ...
but with proof of having Pisan origins prior to the year 1319 they were considered local nobility. Her father was Domenico Alessandro Cicci, a doctor in law and in letters. Her mother, Maria Anna was the daughter of the Captain Giovanni Gaetano Pagnini, Commander of the Cavalleggieri di Rosignano. She died when Maria Luisa was two years old. Her father supervised her education until she was eight. Then he sent her to finish her education in the Monastery of Santa Marta and then to the Monastery of San Bernardo until she was fifteen. At that point she returned home where she began studying the poets and especially
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
, Dante,
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited ...
,
Saverio Bettinelli
Saverio Bettinelli (18 July 1718 – 13 September 1808) was an Italian Jesuit writer.
became known as a polymath, dramatist, polemicist, poet, and literary critic.
Life
He was born at Mantua; there and later in Bologna, he studied under ...
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
. Cicci then began to study history, English and French. She began writing poetry when she was ten and devoted most of her life to poetry.
Cicci was admitted to the
Academy of Arcadia
The Accademia degli Arcadi or Accademia dell'Arcadia, "Academy of Arcadia" or "Academy of the Arcadians", was an Italian literary academy founded in Rome in 1690. The full Italian official name was Pontificia Accademia degli Arcadi.
History
F ...
in Pisa in 1786 where she took the name of Emenia Tindarida. She also was admitted to
Accademia degli Intronati The ''Accademia degli Intronati'' was a prominent literary and scholarly society in Siena.
Unfortunately there is almost nothing left of her writings. She had most of them set on fire just before she died. However her brother and her friends were able to recite some and had them published after her death.