Men of the Time, eleventh edition/Rossi, Ernesto

​ROSSI, Ernesto, an Italian actor, born at Leghorn, in 1829, received his early education in his native town, and afterwards studied law in the University of Pisa. Having a great liking for the stage, he used often to take a part in amateur theatricals, and also in the performances of a regular dramatic company—that of Marchi. Subsequently he entered the dramatic school which had just been founded ​by Gustavo Modena. After having appeared at Milan, Turin, and other Italian cities, he went in 1853 with Mdlle. Ristori to Paris, where, by his masterly acting, he enabled the French public to appreciate the works of several Italian dramatists, and notably those of Goldoni. Signor Bossi achieved a like success at Vienna, and he then returned to his native country, where he established a dramatic company, of which he himself took the management. In 1866 he paid a second visit to Paris, and appeared at the Théâtre Français, on the occasion of the anniversary of Corneille, in an Italian translation of "The Cid." After having visited Portugal and Spain, interpreting with his company the Shaksperian repertory, which he has recently adopted, he returned to Paris in 1875, and gave at the Salle Ventadour, with remarkable success, a series of Shaksperian representations, in which he himself played the leading parts. He next visited London, where he met with an equally enthusiastic reception. M. Rossi, who has been styled the "Italian Talma," is the author of some dramatic pieces of no great merit. He has been decorated with the cross of SS. Maurice and Lazarus, and with several foreign orders.