John florio biography

John Florio: An English Linguist, Lexicographer, and Translator

John Florio was an English linguist, lexicographer, and translator.

He was born to Michelangelo Florio, an Italian Protestant priest who fled religious persecution in Tuscany and sought refuge in England during the reign of Edward VI.
An Educated Upbringing

Growing up in England, John Florio was taught Italian by his father and learned English from his mother.

His father also instructed him in French and German, and at the age of seven, he was sent to study under Pietro Paolo Vergerio in Tübingen.
Return to England and Teaching Career

Florio returned to England in the early 1570s during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

He began teaching foreign languages and European manners to aristocrats, including Lady Jane Grey and the future Queen Elizabeth I. He was close friends with Giordano Bruno and Philip Sidney, and translated