Career
After studying in Florence and at the Scuola Normale in Pisa he taught for a year in San Miniato al Tedesco (1856-1857), and published there a volume of poetry. He then returned to Florence and engaged in editorial work. Appointed professor in the University of Bologna in 1860, he lectured there until his retirement in 1904. Despite attacks on his republicanism and his opposition to the Roman Catholic Church, his reputation as poet, critic and orator brought him many honors, including the Nobel Prize for literature in 1906. Partly because of admiration for Queen Margherita, he modified his republican views and gave allegiance to the Savoy monarchy as the government best suited to Italy. At his death, Feb. 16, 1907, he was honored as a patriot and the foremost literary personage in Italy.
