Dante alighieri biography summary page

1265-1321

Who Was Dante?

Dante was an Italian poet and moral philosopher best known for the epic poem The Divine Comedy, which comprises sections representing the three tiers of the Christian afterlife: purgatory, heaven and hell.

This poem, a great work of medieval literature and considered the greatest work of literature composed in Italian, is a philosophical Christian vision of mankind’s eternal fate. Dante is seen as the father of modern Italian, and his works have flourished before his 1321 death.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Dante Alighieri
BORN: May 21, 1265
DIED: September 13, 1321
BIRTHPLACE: Florence, Italy
SPOUSE: Gemma Donati (circa 1285-1321)
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Gemini

Early Years

Dante Alighieri was born May 21, 1265, in Florence, Italy, to a family with a history of involvement in the complex Florentine political scene, and this setting would become a feature in his Inferno years later.

Dante’s mother died only a few years after his birth