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Giovanni Boccaccio

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Author

The Resume

    (1313-December 21, 1375)
    Born in Certaldo, Tuscany, Italy
    Best known work is The Decameron
    Also wrote 'On Famous Women,' 'The Elegy of Lady Fiammetta,' 'Il Filostrato' and 'Il Filocolo'

Why he might be annoying:

    The details of his early years are uncertain, with several sources giving Paris as his place of birth.
    He fathered three children out of wedlock.
    After a meeting with the pope (1359), he allegedly repudiated his earlier works, including the Decameron, as profane.
    Petrarch had to talk him out of burning his own works.
    His later writing became increasingly misogynistic.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was good friends with Petrarch.
    'The Decameron' influenced Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
    Several tales from the Decameron are raunchy and/or irreverent.
    In one of the most famous ones, a Jew converts to Catholicism after a visit to Rome because 'any organization that can survive such corruption must be the true Church.'
    'On Famous Women' was the first collection of biographies devoted exclusively to women.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 17 Votes: 64.71% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 14 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 11 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 17 Votes: 58.82% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 23 Votes: 39.13% Annoying