Carlo Goldoni (February 25, 1707 - February 6, 1793) was an Italian playwright. In some of his plays he retained the masked characters of the commedia dell'arte which dominated the Italian stage at that time, but in many others, including those regarded as his best, he broke from that tradition, and wrote contemporary comedies of manners with realistic characters.
A number of his works were later turned into operas by the composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, and he wrote the libretto for Joseph Haydn's opera, Il Mondo della luna.
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