Giovanni Boccaccio is best known for being the author of the Decameron, an enormously influential collection of short stories written in Florence ca. 1348-52. He was born in Certaldo (or perhaps Florence) to a banker usually called Boccaccino di Chelino who was employed by the Bardi family. Although we cannot be absolutely certain regarding the year of his birth, Petrarch's mention of being nine years older (Seniles 8.1) would allow us to use 1313 as a reliable hypothesis. In his Amorosa visione (14.42-46), Boccaccio tells us that he was legitimized by his father probably in 1319 or 1320. Of his mother, however, we know next to nothing. The myth of a noble Parisian …
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Citation: Papio, Michael. "Giovanni Boccaccio". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 January 2006 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=460, accessed 21 November 2024.]
