Feb. 28 – Padua and “The Taming of the Shrew,” “Romeo and Juliet” in Verona and Mantua, Venice and its “Merchant” not to mention “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” and Messina’s “Much Ado About Nothing”… Italy was for William Shakespeare a source of inspiration. The special bond between Italy and the great English writer will be the focus of “Shakespeare and Italy – Much Ado About … Italy,” held at the Italian Institute of Culture in Montreal on Thursday March 6 at 18:30. The event revolves around the ancient and controversial question of the authorship of Shakespeare’s works. Throughout the conference, Lamberto Tassinari – researcher and writer – will tackle the Shakespearean question: his relations with Italy, the identity of the author, John Florio and the English Renaissance. Tassinari, a professor at the University of Montreal, will argue that John Florio, a linguist born during the reign of Edward VI, is the real Shakespeare. His findings are reported in the book “John Florio, The Man who was Shakespeare” (Giano Books, 2008, p. 378). Shakespeare’s knowledge of Italy will be the theme that kicks off the discussion, centered around Italy’s geographical, topographical, literary and emotional role in Shakespeare’s works. The debate will also touch upon Shakespeare’s writing and its attribution. The third part of the conference will focus on John Florio, and Anglo-Italian linguist born in London in 1553 and son of the great Italian scholar Michelangelo Florio. John Florio, author of the first Italian -English dictionary, was described by one of his biographers as “the apostle of the English Renaissance during Shakespeare’s time.”
