Italian poet. Born in 1265 into a family of decayed nobility, Dante moved in patrician society. after the death of Beatrice, the woman he loved, in 1290, he plunged into intense study of classical philosophy and Provençal poetry. This woman, thought to have been Beatrice Portinari, was Dante's acknowledged source of spiritual inspiration.

Dante married Gemma Donati, had three children, and was active (1295–1300) as councilman, elector, and prior of Florence. In the complex politics of Florence, he found himself increasingly opposed to the temporal power of Pope Boniface VIII, and he eventually allied himself with the White Guelphs ( political faction in in Italy during the later Middle Ages). After the victory of the Black Guelphs he was dispossessed and banished (1302). Exile made Dante a citizen of all Italy; he served various princes, but supported Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII as the potential savior of a united Italy. He died in 1321 at the court of Guido da Polenta in Ravenna, where he is buried.

Dante's reputation as the outstanding figure of Italian letters rests mainly on the Divine Comedy (see dante's inferno), a long vernacular poem in 100 cantos (more than 14,000 lines) composed during his exile. Dante entitled it 'Commedia'; the adjective 'Divina' was added in the 16th cent. It recounts the tale of the poet's journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, and is divided accordingly into three parts. In Hell and Purgatory Dante is guided by Vergil, through Heaven, by Beatrice, for whom the poem is a memorial.

Dante's works also include La vita nuova (the new life) (written c.1292), a collection of prose and lyrics celebrating Beatrice and illustrating his idealistic concept of love; the Convivio (c.1304), an encyclopedic allegory praising both love and science; De monarchia, a treatise on the need for kingly dominance in secular affairs; and De vulgare eloquentia, on rules for the Italian vernacular.