ALGAROTTI, FRANCESCO

ALGAROTTI, FRANCESCO. - Polymath man of letters, b. in Venezia on 11 Dec. 1712, d. in Pisa in 1764. He possessed an encyclopedic but superficial culture. When scarcely more than twenty years old, he wrote the book that brought him fame: Il neutonianismo per le dame, first written in French and placed on the Index (1738) because of its excessive freedom in expressions and jesting. He travelled through the most important countries of Europe, gaining the friendship, among many others, of Voltaire, Benedetto XIV, and Federico di Prussia, who greatly protected and esteemed him. In 1753, because of his failing health, he was compelled to return to Italy in search of a better climate. By common consent, his Viaggi in Russia are his best work. In it he was better able to display his gifts as a publicist and his worldly and inquisitive temperament. An easy and at times graceful writer, he was one of the principal representatives of the Enlightenment current in Italy and possessed good talents as a popularizer.