DA PONTE, LORENZO. - Man of letters, b. at Ceneda (Belluno) in 1749. A Jew, he was baptized by Bishop Da Ponte, who had taken him in out of charity and whose name he assumed. He embraced the ecclesiastical career out of calculation (1773). Because of his dissolute life he had to flee from Venice and was then expelled from Austria, where he had been court poet and had composed for Mozart the librettos of Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. From then on he wandered through England and America, where he spread Italian culture. His Memorie (1829-30) reveal him as one of those adventurers of the late eighteenth century, whose fundamental genius was undermined by a lack of moral sense and by the restlessness of his life. Some religious Salmi betray his spiritual poverty. M. reconciled with the Church in New York in 1838.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: Works: Memorie, edited by G. Gambarin and F. Nicolini. Bari 1918. Studies: J. L. Russo, L. Da P., New York 1922; U. Liberatore, L. Da P. scrittore, in Profili storici, Rome 1936 (v. index).

Enzo Navarra

@incollection{ec4_da_ponte_lorenzo, author = {Navarra, Enzo}, title = {Da Ponte, lorenzo}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IV}, pages = {1219}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/da-ponte-lorenzo} }

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Da Ponte, Lorenzo

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