Da Ponte, Lorenzo

DaPonte, Lorenzo (10 March 1749, Ceneda [now called Vittorio Veneto] Treviso; 17 August 1838, New York City), Italian poet and librettist named Emanuele Conegliano at birth, was baptized into the Catholic faith at age 14 on 29 August 1763. Lorenzo’s mother had died when he was only five years old, and his education had been left to a disgruntled tutor and his own devices until he was sent to the seminary at Ceneda under the sponsorship of the local bishop. When the bishop of Ceneda died in…