Vincenzo Da Filicaja, an Italian lyric poet, born in Florence in 1642, died there, Sept. 24, 1707. His grandfather and father were senators, and he was educated with a view to that position. He studied Greek and Roman antiquity, philosophy, theology, and jurisprudence, indulging in poetry only as a relaxation from severer pursuits. He began with amatory verses, but the object of his affections dying in her youth, he determined thenceforth to write only on sacred or heroic themes. After his marriage, having only a small fortune, he retired to the country and gave his attention to the education of his children and to study. At this time he wrote many Latin and Italian poems, but without any intention of publishing them. After the raising of the siege of Vienna by the Turks in 1683, he celebrated the triumph of the Christian arms by elegant odes addressed to John Sobieski, to the emperor Leopold, to the duke of Lorraine, to the God of armies, &C. The ex-queen Christina of Sweden, whom he also celebrated, undertook to defray the expenses of his sons' education. He was appointed by the grand duke of Tuscany senator, and governor of Volterra. and afterward of Pisa. He then began the task of preparing his works for publication, but died before its completion.

His son published them under the title of Poesie toscane di Vincenzo da Filicaja (4to, Florence, 1707; 2 vols. 8vo, Venice, 1702). His sonnet L'Italia is esteemed among the finest in the Italian language.