Italian Philosopher's Work Finally Translated

19th century poet Giacomo Leopardi, considered by Italians to be one of their greatest thinkers, may finally get the respect he deserves thanks to a translation of the Zibaldone de Pensieri into English.  Leopardi was born in 1798 and is considered Italy's second greatest poet, trailing only Dante.

The Zibaldone is a collection of of Leopardi's ideas and observations spanning 15 years.  It was published at the beginning of the 20th century, which was over 60 years after Leopardi's death.  He died in 1837 at the young age of 38.

A team of translators from three different countries were able to translate the piece after seven years.  The translation was published in Great Britain on Thursday and is available at Birmingham University.  The translated text spans more than 2,500 pages.

Franco D'Intino, professor of modern Italian literature at La Sapienza University in Rome and one of the many editors of the Zibaldone, said that the text was so hard to translate because it is full of quotations in "Greek Latin, French, Spanish and English."
To read the original article , visit the Guardian.