Dictionary.net

The greatest of Italian lyric poets; born at Arezzo, July 20, 1304; died at Arqua, July 18, 1374. He wrote mostly in Latin; but his fame rests on his lyrics written in the vulgar tongue, and his "Rime", containing sonnets (227), ballads, songs, etc. In Latin verse he wrote: "Africa", an epic in hexameters, recounting the feats of Scipio Africanus the Elder; a "Bucolic Poem"; a volume of 68 "Metrical Epistles". His chief writings in Latin prose are: "Of Contempt of the World"; "Of the Solitary Life"; "Of the Remedies for Either Fortune"; "Memoranda", brief historical and legendary anecdotes; "Of Illustrious Men"; "Of True Wisdom"; "Of his Own and Others' Ignorance".