by Sam Hall
Interesting fact –Lorenzo da Ponte , librettist for Don Giovanni, was the first professor of Italian literature at Columbia University in New York City; he was also the first ethnically Jewish member of the faculty, and the first to be a Catholic priest.
Before that, he worked at various points in his life as grocer, among other things, and for a time served as a librettist for the imperial Hapsburg court in Vienna, where he became W.A. Mozart's most famous collaborator in the opera. Da Ponte led an interesting life and he was a gifted writer, though not a great one.
Source: http://dcmetrotheaterarts.com/
