Italians defend Dante from claims he was 'light years' behind Shakespeare

Leaders rally in support of ‘father of Italian language’ after withering comments in German newspaper

Italian political and cultural leaders have sprung to the defence of their much-revered poet Dante Alighieri after a German newspaper downplayed his importance to the Italian language and said he was “light years” away from William Shakespeare.

In a comment piece in Frankfurter Rundschau, Arno Widmann wrote that even though Dante “brought the national language to great heights”, Italian schoolchildren struggled to understand the antiquated verse of his Divine Comedy, which was written in 1320.

Related: Dante's descendant to take part in 'retrial' of poet's 1302 corruption case

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