PASSERONI, GIAN CARLO. - Priest and poet, b. at Condamine di Lantosca (Nice) on 8 March 1713, d. at Milan on 26 Dec. 1803.
A friend of Parini, who addresses him in the ode La tempesta by calling him Alcone, he wrote a poem in 101 cantos: Cicerone (Milan 1755–74), in which the life of the Roman orator serves as a pretext for a graceful satire on various aspects of contemporary society. The poem, which occupies a notable place in eighteenth-century light verse, pleased Baretti, Rousseau, and Sterne. P. was also the author of a volume of satirical-moral verse and of 7 vols. of Favole esopiane (ibid. 1779–88).
BIBL.: G. Baretti, La frusta letteraria. I, Bari 1932, pp. 140–150; G. Carducci, L'Accademia de' Conformati e G. Parini, in Opere, ed. naz., XVI, Bologna 1937, p. 53 ff. See also: A. Mannelli, Il Cicerone di G. C. P. considerato sotto l'aspetto educativo, Firenze 1915; G. Natali, Il Settecento, II, Milano 1936, pp. 1040–47 (with bibliographical note on p. 1103); C. Previtera, La poesia giocosa e l'umorismo, II, Milano 1942, pp. 155–63.
Lanfranco Fiore