Background
Porta was born in Milan to Giuseppe Porta and Violante Gottieri, a merchant family.
Porta was born in Milan to Giuseppe Porta and Violante Gottieri, a merchant family.
He studied in Monza until 1792 and then in the Seminario of Milan.
From 1804 until his death, Porta worked as government employee, although he would have been pleased to keep on studying. He died in Milan in January 1821 from an attack of gout and was buried in the Church of San Gregorio. His tomb was subsequently lost, but his tombstone Is still conserved in the vault of San Gregorio church, in Milan.
lieutenant was in honor of Carlo Porta that Alessandro Manzoni, the father of the contemporary Italian language, wrote his only poem in the Lombard language, namely: On badee ch’el voeur fà de sapientôn / el se toeu subet via per on badee.
/ ma on omm de coo ch’el voeur parè minciôn / el se mett anca luu in d"on bell cuntee. (A stupid wishing to pose as a clever man / is seen to be a stupid right away.
/ but a clever man posing as a stupid / is in a nice fix himself as well).