Background
Jacopo Mazzoni was born on November 27, 1548, in Cesena, Italy.
Jacopo Mazzoni was born on November 27, 1548, in Cesena, Italy.
Mazzoni was educated in Bologna in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Rhetoric, and Poetics. Later he attended the University of Padua in 1563, where he studied Philosophy and Jurisprudence.
He occupied chairs in the universities of Pisa and Rome, was one of the founders of the Delia Crusca Academy, and had the distinction, it is said, of thrice vanquishing the Admirable Crichton in dialectic. His chief work in philosophy was an attempt to reconcile Plato and Aristotle, and in this spirit he published in 1597 a treatise In universam Platonis et Aristotelis philosophiam praecludia. He wrote also De triplici hominum vita, wherein he outlined a theory of the infinite perfection and development of nature. Apart from philosophy, he was prominent in literature as the champion of Dante, and produced two works in the poet's defence: Discorso composto in difesa delta comedia di Dante (1572), and Della difesa della comedia di Dante (1587, reprinted 1688).
Jacopo Mazzoni died on April 10, 1598.