Dante Alighieri

Dante Alighieri (c 1265-1321) was an Italian poet of the late Middle Ages most famous for The Divine Comedy, comprised of the three epic poems Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Dante wrote in the Italian vernacular rather than Latin, as was traditional. Dante lived in Florence but, due to political conflicts, was condemned to perpetual exile in the early 1300s, stripping him of his familial home and culture. Though married to Gemma di Manetto Donati of the powerful Donati family, he was in love with Beatrice Portinari whom he depicted in many of his works, often as an almost divine figure. Source