BRUNAMONTI-BONACCI, MARIA ALINDA. - Poet, b. at Perugia on 21 Aug. 1841, d. there on 3 Feb. 1903. At the age of fifteen she published her first Canti, arousing distrust because of her remarkable precocity. In 1860, having moved with her family to Recanati, she echoed in the Canti nazionali the patriotic enthusiasm for the battle of Castelfidardo. In 1868 she married Pietro Brunamonti, professor of Philosophy of Law at the University of Perugia, and returned to her native city, where she lived almost continuously until her death.
Nourished by rigorous studies and endowed with exquisite sensitivity, she knew how to give classical form to noble thoughts and fresh, vivid images. Her earliest inspirations, to which she often returned, were religious: “the first fruits of song belonged to Maria.” Following in the footsteps of Zanella, who held her very dear, she attempted scientific-apologetic themes. She diligently sought moral symbols in the aspects of external nature, as is evident above all from the collections: Nuovi canti (Città di Castello 1887) and Flora (Rome 1898). In the Discorsi d'arte and the Ricordi di viaggio (published posthumously in 1905), B. displays such delicacy and insight that her prose pages may be considered the most complete expression of her personality.