Dante

Dante Alighieri (c. 1265–1321) was an Italian poet, philosopher, and political thinker, best known for his epic poem *The Divine Comedy*, a profound Christian vision of the afterlife divided into *Inferno*, *Purgatorio*, and *Paradiso*. Born in Florence to a family involved in the city's turbulent politics, he was exiled in 1302 for his White Guelph affiliations and spent his later years wandering Italian cities before settling in Ravenna. His innovative use of the Italian vernacular elevated it to a literary language, establishing him as the father of modern Italian literature.