Was Shakespeare Italian?
Best Answers
In his book Shakespeare era italiano (2002), retired Sicilian professor Martino Iuvara claims that Shakespeare was, in fact, not English at all, but Italian. His conclusion is drawn from research carried out from 1925 to 1950 by two professors at Palermo University. read more
Over the centuries scholars have been puzzled by Shakespeare's profound knowledge of Italian. Shakespeare had an impressive familiarity with stories by Italian authors such as Giovanni Boccaccio, Matteo Bandello, and Masuccio Salernitano. read more
According to a most eccentric breed of anti-Stratfordians – the people who argue that Shakespeare wasn't Shakespeare – Shakespeare was quite literally Italian. His name, they suggest, was Crollanza or Scrollalanza ("shake-speare"), before he moved to London from Sicily via northern Italy. read more
Iuvara posits that Shakespeare was born not in Stratford in April 1564, as is commonly believed, but in Messina as Michelangelo Florio Crollalanza. His parents were not John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, but were Dr. Giovanni Florio, and Guglielma Crollalanza, a Sicilian noblewoman. read more
