He is remembered today primarily as the hero of the play Adelchi (1822) by Alessandro Manzoni.
Upon the death of his father in 1805, he joined the freethinking household of his mother at Auteuil, and spent two years mixing with the literary set of the so-called "ideologues", philosophers of the 18th-century school, among whom he made many friends, notably Claude Charles Fauriel.
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The poet's maternal grandfather, Cesare Beccaria, was a well-known author, and his mother Giulia had literary talent as well.
Owned by the Manzoni family, the house was the birthplace of the famous Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni in 1785.
Those who enjoyed his closest intimacy were the physiologist Cabanis (Madame de Condorcet's brother-in-law), the poet Alessandro Manzoni, the publicist Benjamin Constant, and François Guizot.
His translations of “The Nun of Monza” by Gioachino Rossini and “The Betrothed” by Alessandro Manzoni were major contributions to the introduction of modern Italian literature to Germany.
He became however famous for his several striking mistakes which brought popular journalist Gianni Brera to nickname him "sciagurato Egidio" (Egidio the wretched), after a minor character from Alessandro Manzoni's novel The Betrothed.
Among his many works: a Madonna for the Sanctuary of Bozzolo (near Garlasco); Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro for the chapel of the Hospital of Sanzo; a Christ among the Children for the asylum of infants founded by signor Niccola Traversi in Lomellina; The Delirium of Ermengarda from the play Adelchi by Alessandro Manzoni; Death of Count Rosso; A Prayer at Subiaco.
These works were important sources from which Alessandro Manzoni derived the historical background of his novel The Betrothed.
Alessandro Manzoni | Alessandro Volta | Piero Manzoni | Alessandro Scarlatti | Alessandro Farnese | Alessandro Mendini | Alessandro Ballan | Alessandro Safina | Alessandro Del Piero | Alessandro Cagliostro | Alessandro Baricco | Alessandro | The Betrothed (Manzoni novel) | Giacomo Manzoni | Alessandro Ripellino | Alessandro Magnasco | Alessandro Gherardini | Alessandro Barsanti | Diego Manzoni | Alessandro Vespignani | Alessandro Talotti | Alessandro Riguccini | Alessandro Peretti di Montalto | Alessandro Pasqualini | Alessandro Mussolini | Alessandro Malaspina | Alessandro Haber | Alessandro Grandi | Alessandro Galilei | Alessandro Farnese (cardinal) |
He corresponded with other Liberal Catholics, among them Manzoni, Cesare Cantu, Dupanloup, and Montalembert.
These included Alessandro Manzoni, Francesco Hayez (who painted a portrait of Clara which he then gave to her husband), Giuseppe Verdi and Giovanni Prati.
Federico Borromeo appears as a character in Alessandro Manzoni’s novel The Betrothed (I promessi sposi), in which he is characterized as an intelligent humanist and saintly servant of Christ, serving the people of Milan unselfishly during the 1630 plague.
Gioacchino Rossini; Aleardo Aleardi; Giacomo Leopardi; Alessandro Manzoni; Michelangelo; the Exposition of Milan in 1872; Bernardo Celentano; Exposition of Antwerp in 1885; Cesare Maccari; Francesco Podesti; and Agli alunni delle scuole d'arte applicata all' industria e alcune poesie.
The bookshop was visited in the 19th century by writer Stendhal, Alessandro Manzoni, Charles Dickens, Herman Melville and Henry James.
Italian author Alessandro Manzoni made Resegone (which he called Monte Serrada) the backdrop for some of the scenes in his novel The Betrothed (in Italian I Promessi sposi).