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Lorenzo Da Ponte
Italian opera librettist, poet, and Roman Catholic priest (1749–1838) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lorenzo Da Ponte[lower-alpha 1] (né Emanuele Conegliano; 10 March 1749 – 17 August 1838[4]) was an Italian, later American, opera librettist, poet and Roman Catholic priest. He wrote the libretti for 28 operas by 11 composers, including three of Mozart's most celebrated operas: The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and Così fan tutte (1790).
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He was the first professor of Italian literature at Columbia University, and with Manuel Garcia, the first to introduce Italian opera to America.[5][6] Da Ponte was also a close friend of Mozart and Casanova.[5][7]