TOSATTI, MARIA BARBARA. - Poetess, b. 4 Nov. 1891 at S. Felice sul Panaro (Modena), d. at Rome 17 Apr. 1934.
A woman of exquisite intelligence, solid classical learning, and profound spirituality. Her brother Quinto published a volume of her writings entitled Canti e preghiere (Brescia 1939), containing lyrics, reflections, and letters by M. B. It was an abrupt leap into fame.
There was unanimous recognition of her lofty poetic inspiration, which, though employing nineteenth-century metres, won the admiration of all through the genuine lyricism of its vein, its refined expressive beauty—which remotely suggested the names of Foscolo and Leopardi—and the inward spiritual richness from which it sprang.
BIBL.: P. P. Trompeo, Anima e poesia di M. B. T., Roma 1937; P. Pancrazi, Scrittori italiani del Novecento, Bari 1934, p. 285 ff.; D. Mondrone, Dal canzoniere e diario di M. B. T., in Scrittori al traguardo, I, 3rd ed., Roma 1947, pp. 225–45; V. Bassoli, La poesia di M. B. T., Milano-Roma 1950.