CERESETO, GIAMBATTISTA. – Born in Ovada (Alessandria) on 15 June 1816; became a Piarist on 15 April 1833; died in his native city on 14 May 1858. A writer and educator, he cannot be overlooked in the history of Italian literature for the contribution he made to the advancement of culture through his works.
Worth noting are the Storia della poesia in Italia, the Ragionamento sull’epopea in Italia, prefaced to his translation of Klopatock’s «Messiade», to which he devoted an entire decade, and, finally, the Viaggetto autunnale dei convittori del Collegio nazionale di Genova, a work that, in De Sanctis’s judgment, represents the first attempt of its kind in Italy.
BIBL.: F. Gilardini, Notizie sulla vita e sugli scritti di G. B. C. (prefaced to his works); P. Vannucci, Uno scolopio nella critica desanctisiana, in La voce del Calasanzio, Rome 1947, no. 1–2.