Sigismondo Boldoni (5 July 1597 – 3 July 1630) was an Italian writer, philosopher, and physician. Boldoni was born in Bellano and died in Pavia from the plague shortly before his 33rd birthday. At the time of his death he held the principal chair in philosophy at the University of Pavia. His literary works included a description of the geography and history of Lake Como entitled Larius and the epic poem La caduta de' Longobardi (The Fall of the Lombards). His letters of 1629 describing the advance of invading German armies in the region around Lake Como and the plague epidemic they brought in their wake were used by Manzoni as a source for his 1827 novel I Promessi Sposi. Source: Wikipedia (en)