Galeazzo Flavio Capra

Galeazzo Capra (1487–1537), also known as Capella and Cappella, was an Italian author and diplomat.

Born to a wealthy, but not aristocratic, family in Milan, Capra received a thorough humanist education. Sometime after 1522, he was appointed secretary to the chancellor and ducal legate, Girolamo Morone. He was later sent to Venice as ambassador by Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan. According to G. Ghilini, after Sforza’s death in 1535, Capra also occasionally served as the ambassador for Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

In 1525, he published the short book Della eccellenza e dignità delle donne [On the Excellence and Dignity of Women] which defends women against the calumnies of poets and philosophers. Della eccellenza was included in its entirety in the second book of his dialogue Antropologia, published in 1533. This work is divided into three books: the first examines the virtues of men, and the third considers the flaws of both genders. The Antropologia was highly praised by a contemporary historian and friend of Capra, Benedetto Giovio (1471–1545). Capra’s most famous work is the Commentarii Galeacii Capellae de rebus gestis pro restitutione Francisi Sfortiae II, ab ipsomet authore postremo recogniti [Commentaries of Galeazzo Capella on the events carried out for the restitution of Francesco Sforza II, recollected by the author himself after the events]. This work was quickly translated into Spanish, German, and Italian. It was also widely cited by Italian historian and political writer Francesco Guicciardini in his Storia d’Italia (1537–1540).

Capra died in 1537 in Milan.

Sources

Ricciardi, Roberto. “Capra, Galeazzo.” In Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani volume 19 (1976). http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/galeazzo-capra_(Dizionario-Biografico)