Gaetano Fedele Polidori (1763–1853) was an Italian writer, political and scholar living in

Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisat ...

. He was the son of Agostino Ansano Polidori (1714–1778), a physician and poet who lived and practised in his native

Bientina Bientina () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany. History The toponym Bientina is attested the first time in 793 as Blentina and probably comes from the Etruscan name Plitine. Geography Terr ...

, near Pisa,

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

. Polidori studied law at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

. He became secretary to the tragedian

Vittorio Alfieri Count Vittorio Alfieri (, also , ; 16 January 17498 October 1803) was an Italian dramatist and poet, considered the "founder of Italian tragedy." He wrote nineteen tragedies, sonnets, satires, and a notable autobiography. Early life Alfieri was ...

in 1785 and remained with him four years. He came to England from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in 1790 after resigning as Alfieri's secretary. He settled in Highgate, working as an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

teacher and translator. He translated various literary works, notably, John Milton's '' Paradise Lost'' and Horace Walpole's ''

The Castle of Otranto ''The Castle of Otranto'' is a novel by Horace Walpole. First published in 1764, it is generally regarded as the first gothic novel. In the second edition, Walpole applied the word 'Gothic' to the novel in the subtitle – ''A Gothic Story''. Se ...

'', besides other writings of Milton and Lucan. He wrote prolifically, producing his own fiction, poetry, criticism, and tragedies. He also set up a

private press Private press publishing, with respect to books, is an endeavor performed by craft-based expert or aspiring artisans, either amateur or professional, who, among other things, print and build books, typically by hand, with emphasis on design, gra ...

at his home, where amongst other works (mostly his own), he printed the first editions of some poems by his grandchildren,

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...

and

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems, including " Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Bri ...

. He also printed an edition of the poem ''Osteologia'', which his father Agostino Ansano Polidori had written in 1763. He retired to a house in

Holmer Green Holmer Green is a village in the civil parish of Little Missenden, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is next to Hazlemere, about south of Great Missenden. History Holmer Green is named after the manor of Holmer that covered a significant part ...

, Buckinghamshire in 1836.

Family

Dante Gabriel Rossetti - The Girlhood of Mary Virgin

On 29 January 1793, Gaetano Polidori married an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

governess, Anna Maria Pierce of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

(b. c. 1774), and they had four sons and four daughters. His oldest son John William Polidori was a physician to

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

and author of the first vampire story in

, ''

The Vampyre "The Vampyre" is a short work of prose fiction written in 1819 by John William Polidori taken from the story Lord Byron told as part of a contest among Polidori, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, and Percy Shelley. The same contest produced the novel '' ...

'' (1819). His daughter Frances (Frances Mary Lavinia Polidori, 27 April 1800 – 8 April 1886W. M. Rossetti (ed.), ''Dante Gabriel Rossetti: his family-letters'' (1970 895, 21–24 (transcript
rossettiarchive.org
/ref>) in 1826 married exiled Italian scholar

Gabriele Rossetti Gabriele Pasquale Giuseppe Rossetti (28 February 1783 – 24 April 1854) was an Italian nobleman, poet, constitutionalist, scholar, and founder of the secret society Carbonari. Rossetti was born in Vasto in the Kingdom of Naples. He was Rom ...

. They had four children,

Maria Francesca Rossetti Maria Francesca Rossetti (17 February 1827 – 24 November 1876) was a London-born English author and nun. She was the sister of artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Michael Rossetti, and of Christina Georgina Rossetti, who dedicated her 1 ...

William Michael Rossetti William Michael Rossetti (25 September 1829 – 5 February 1919) was an English writer and critic. Early life Born in London, Rossetti was a son of immigrant Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti and his wife Frances Rossetti ''née'' Polidor ...

and Christina Georgina Rossetti. After Gabriele's death in 1854, Frances quickly burned the remaining copies of his book ''Il Mistero dell' Amor Platonico del Medio Evo''. Frances herself died in 1886 and was buried in the family plot at

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

(1827–1876), wrote a book about

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

and later became an Anglican nun. Gabriel Charles Dante (1828–1882) and William Michael (1829–1919) were among the co-founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Frances sat for Gabriel for some of his early paintings, for example, ''The Girlhood of Mary Virgin'', in which she modelled for Saint Anne. Christina Georgina (1830–1894) became famous as a poet and is probably best known as the author of the poem ''

Goblin Market ''Goblin Market'' (composed in April 1859 and published in 1862) is a narrative poem by Christina Rossetti. The poem tells the story of Laura and Lizzie who are tempted with fruit by goblin merchants. In a letter to her publisher, Rossetti claim ...

''.

References

*Doughty, Oswald (1949). ''Dante Gabriel Rossetti: A Victorian Romantic''. New Haven: Yale University Press. *Packer, L. M. (1963). ''Christina Rossetti''. Berkeley:

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

Press. *Toynbee, P. J. (1909). '' Dante in English Literature from Chaucer to Cary''. London: Metheun. *Waller, Ross Douglas (1932). '' The Rossetti Family, 1824-1854''. Manchester: Manchester University Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Polidori, Gaetano 1764 births 1853 deaths People from the Province of Pisa People from Highgate Polidori-Rossetti family Writers from Tuscany Italian emigrants to the Kingdom of Great Britain 18th-century Italian writers 18th-century Italian male writers 19th-century Italian writers 19th-century Italian male writers Private press movement Private press movement people