Pietro Cossa (25 January 1830 – 30 August 1881) was an Italian dramatist.

Life

Cossa was born at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and claimed descent from the family of

Antipope John XXIII Baldassarre Cossa (c. 1370 – 22 December 1419) was Pisan antipope John XXIII (1410–1415) during the Western Schism. The Catholic Church regards him as an antipope, as he opposed Pope Gregory XII whom the Catholic Church now recognizes as t ...

. He manifested an independent spirit from his youth, and was expelled from a Jesuit school on the double charge of indocility and patriotism. After fighting for the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

in 1849, he emigrated to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. However, failing to establish himself he returned to Italy, and lived precariously as a literary man until 1870, when his reputation was established by the unexpected success of his first acted tragedy, ''Nero''. From this time to his death Cossa continued to produce a play a year, usually upon some classical subject. ''Cleopatra'', ''Messalina'', ''Julian'', enjoyed great popularity, and his dramas on subjects derived from Italian history, ''Rienzi'' and ''The Borgias'', were also successful. ''Plautus'', a comedy, was preferred by the author himself, and is more original. Incidental music for some of his plays was written by celebrated Italian composers, notably

Luigi Mancinelli Luigi Mancinelli (; 5 February 1848 – 2 February 1921) was an Italian conductor, cellist and composer. His early career was in Italy, where he established a reputation in Perugia and then Bologna. After 1886 he worked mostly in other countr ...

. The entry for Cossa in the 1911 ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' evaluated his style as follows: Cossa died at

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

in 1881. His collected ''Teatro poetico'' was published in 1887.

References

;Attribution *

External links

Page at Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cossa, Pietro 1830 births 1881 deaths Writers from Rome Italian male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Italian dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Italian male writers