Giovanni Boccaccio (1313­1375) was an Italian writer and humanist 
whose works influenced many great writers, including William 
Shakespeare, John Dryden,  and Geoffrey Chaucer. Boccaccio’s work, 
The Decameron  (1353) is still seen as the finest example of Italian 
Renaissance prose. His other major writings include a biography of 
Dante and a number of works of prose and poetry.