Boccaccio, Giovanni: - "Giovanni Boccaccio (16 June 1313 - 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Boccaccio wrote several notable works, including The Decameron and On Famous Women. He wrote his most imaginative literature in Tuscan vernacular, as well as a few in Latin. Boccaaccio is particularly noted for his realistic dialogue which differed from that of his contemporaries, who usually followed formulaic models for character and plot."