Dante Alighieri

c.1265-1321

Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri

Italian poet, writer, philosopher and political thinker best known for the epic poem La commedia (The Divine Comedy). Considered the father of, and credited with, standardising the Italian language he set a precedence in his country for writing in Italian rather than in the more commonly used Latin.

"The man who lies asleep will never waken fame"