Giovanni Boccaccio
Italian author and poet (1313–1375)
Giovanni Boccaccio (UK: /bəˈkætʃioʊ/, US: /boʊˈkɑːtʃ(i)oʊ, bə-/, Italian: [dʒoˈvanni bokˈkattʃo]; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian author and poet.[1] He wrote several famous works, such as On Famous Women and the Decameron. Boccaccio was the first poet, who used ottava rima in longer poems.[2] Thus he started long tradition of employing this form in epic poems. Some of Geoffrey Chaucer's works were based on Boccaccio's poems.[1]