Writers in Florence
The atlas holds 21 people and 54 moments here, from 1217 to 1963. The most recorded lives are Michelangelo, Niccolò Machiavelli and Dante Alighieri.
Notable people
Michelangelo
from 1475 to 1530
11 moments here
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet.…
Niccolò Machiavelli
from 1469 to 1527
6 moments here
Florentine diplomat, civil servant, political theorist, playwright, and historian of the Italian Renaissance.…
Dante Alighieri
from 1265 to 1300
5 moments here
Florentine poet, prose writer, philosopher, and statesman whose Divine Comedy became a foundational work of Italian and European literature.…
Giovanni Boccaccio
from 1341 to 1373
4 moments here
Italian writer, poet, and humanist, best known for the Decameron. His documented life moved between Florence, Naples, Romagna, papal Avignon and…
Leonardo da Vinci
from 1469 to 1503
3 moments here
Italian Renaissance painter, draftsman, engineer, architect, anatomist, and natural philosopher.…
Le Corbusier
from 1907 to 1963
3 moments here
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, known as Le Corbusier, was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, painter, writer, and urban planner.…
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
from 1874 to 1890
3 moments here
Russian Romantic composer whose career ranged from civil-service work and conservatory teaching in Saint Petersburg and Moscow to international…
John Milton
from 1638 to 1639
3 moments here
English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. This chronology follows documented residences, education, continental travel, marriages, public service,…
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
from 1862 to 1869
2 moments here
Russian novelist, journalist, essayist, and former military engineer whose life moved between Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Siberian imprisonment and…
Mark Twain
from 1892 to 1903
2 moments here
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known as Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, journalist, lecturer, riverboat pilot, and traveler.…
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
in 1689
2 moments here
German polymath, philosopher, mathematician, jurist, diplomat, court councillor, historian, and librarian.…
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
in 1786
1 moment here
German poet, dramatist, novelist, scientist, theatre director, and statesman. Born in Frankfurt, Goethe studied in Leipzig and Strasbourg, practiced…
Michael Faraday
in 1814
1 moment here
English chemist and physicist whose experimental work transformed the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.…
Geoffrey Chaucer
in 1373
1 moment here
English poet, courtier, diplomat, and civil servant, best known for The Canterbury Tales. His documented career included military service in France,…
Arthur Schopenhauer
in 1822
1 moment here
German philosopher and writer, born in Danzig and dead in Frankfurt am Main. His documented movements included childhood residences in Hamburg and Le…
Honoré de Balzac
in 1837
1 moment here
French novelist and playwright, born in Tours and dead in Paris. Balzac created La Comédie humaine, an interlinked fictional panorama of…
Petrarch
in 1305
1 moment here
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) was an Italian scholar, poet, cleric, diplomat, and foundational humanist.…
Montesquieu
in 1728
1 moment here
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, was a French jurist, historian, and political philosopher.…
Thomas Hobbes
in 1636
1 moment here
English philosopher and political theorist, best known for Leviathan (1651). Hobbes’s documented movements include study at Oxford, European travel…
Michel de Montaigne
in 1581
1 moment here
French Renaissance writer, magistrate, diplomat, and two-term mayor of Bordeaux, best known for the Essais.…
Francis of Assisi
in 1217
1 moment here
Italian Catholic friar, deacon, preacher, and founder of the Order of Friars Minor. Born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone at Assisi, he renounced his…
Moments
- 1217 Meeting with Cardinal Hugolin at Florence Francis of Assisi
- 1265 Born in Florence Dante Alighieri
- 1283 Exchanged greetings with Beatrice in Florence Dante Alighieri
- 1290 Studied at Santa Maria Novella Dante Alighieri
- 1294 Met Charles Martel in Florence Dante Alighieri
- 1300 Resided in the Palazzo della Signoria as prior Dante Alighieri
- 1305 Childhood at Incisa Petrarch
- 1341 Return to Florence Giovanni Boccaccio
- 1348 Black Death in Florence Giovanni Boccaccio
- 1350 First meeting with Petrarch near Florence Giovanni Boccaccio
- 1373 Diplomatic visit to Florence Geoffrey Chaucer
- 1373 First Dante lecture at Santo Stefano Giovanni Boccaccio
- 1469 Moves to Florence Leonardo da Vinci
- 1469 Birth in Florence Niccolò Machiavelli
- 1475 Brought to Florence as an infant Michelangelo
- 1481 Lives with a stonecutter at Settignano Michelangelo
- 1490 Lives in the Medici household Michelangelo
- 1493 Hosted at Santo Spirito Michelangelo
- 1500 Returns to Florence Leonardo da Vinci
- 1501 Returns from Rome to Florence Michelangelo
- 1503 Returns from Borgia's service Leonardo da Vinci
- 1504 Works at the Palazzo della Signoria Michelangelo
- 1506 Takes refuge in Florence Michelangelo
- 1512 Confinement in Florentine territory Niccolò Machiavelli
- 1513 Orti Oricellari discussions Niccolò Machiavelli
- 1513 Imprisonment after conspiracy accusation Niccolò Machiavelli
- 1513 Retreat to the Albergaccio estate Niccolò Machiavelli
- 1519 Recorded in Florence by his own letter Michelangelo
- 1527 Remains in republican Florence Michelangelo
- 1527 Death in Florence Niccolò Machiavelli
- 1529 Returns to besieged Florence Michelangelo
- 1530 Hides after Florence falls Michelangelo
- 1581 Visit to Florence Michel de Montaigne
- 1636 Visit to Galileo in Florence Thomas Hobbes
- 1638 Meeting Galileo at Arcetri John Milton
- 1638 First Florentine stay John Milton
- 1639 Second Florentine stay John Milton
- 1689 Florence visit Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1689 Departure from Florence Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1728 Arrival in Florence Montesquieu
- 1786 Makes a three-hour visit to Florence Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- 1814 Diamond experiments in Florence Michael Faraday
- 1822 Second Italian journey in Florence Arthur Schopenhauer
- 1837 Second Italian journey: Florence Honoré de Balzac
- 1862 Visited Florence on his first European tour Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- 1869 Completed The Idiot in Florence Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- 1874 Italian journey: Florence Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- 1878 Residence in Florence Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- 1890 Florentine work on The Queen of Spades Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- 1892 Resides in Florence Mark Twain