Cvijeta Zuzorić

Cvijeta Zuzorić (Flora Zuzzeri)
Born	ca. 1552 Republic of Ragusa
Died	1648 Ancona, Italy
Occupation	poetess.

Cvijeta Zuzorić (pronounced [ʦv̞ijěta zûzɔ̝riʨ]; also Fiora Zuzori or Flora Zuzzeri) (Ragusa, 1552 - Ancona, 1648) was a lyric poetess from the Republic of Ragusa. She wrote mainly in Italian,^[1] but even sometimes in Serbo-Croatian language.

Life

She was born in Ragusa (now called Dubrovnik) into a prominent merchant family, she was daughter of Frano Zuzori and Marina Radaljević (Radagli). Brought up in Italy, she married in 1577, a Florentine nobleman, Bartolomeo Pescioni who had been Florentine consul in the Republic of Ragusa: the couple moved to Italy in 1582.

Being a well educated woman, she invited numerous authors and artists to her house, which was home to a widely known literary academy. Zuzorić was an exceptionally beautiful and intelligent woman, was said to have written excellent epigrams and gentle rhymes, most of which, however, have not survived. She is known only by reputation, since she was mentioned and celebrated in countless poems by Dinko Zlatarić, Miho Bona-Babulinov, Miho Monaldi, Boccabinco, Simonetti, Marin Bettera, her contemporaries, as well as later Ragusean authors.

It is interesting to note that she was also mentioned in the sonnets of the famous Italian poet Torquato Tasso, who praised her virtues and beauty even though he had never met her. Her great friend Nikola Vitov Gučetić and his wife Marija Gundulić Gucić described her physical and spiritual beauty in his famous philosophical work on love, a treatise on the Meteors of Aristotle.

Notes

1. ^ Flora Zuzzeri in Ancona (in Italian)

See also

Poetry portal

• Republic of Ragusa
• List of notable Ragusans
• Dubrovnik
• Dalmatia
• History of Dalmatia

Sources

• Bloomsbury Guide to Women's Literature
• Slučaj Cvijete Zuzorić. Državni udar ljepotom (Croatian)

Persondata
Name	Zuzoric, Cvijeta
Alternative names
Short description	Croatian writer
Date of birth
Place of birth	Republic of Ragusa
Date of death	1648
Place of death