John Florio (1553-1625), known in Italian as Giovanni Florio [dʒoˈvanni ˈflɔːrjo], was a linguist and lexicographer, a royal language tutor at the Court of James I, and a possible friend and influence on William Shakespeare. He was also the first translator of Montaigne into English. He was born in ...

John Florio (1553-1625), known in Italian as Giovanni Florio [dʒoˈvanni ˈflɔːrjo], was a linguist and lexicographer, a royal language tutor at the Court of James I, and a possible friend and influence on William Shakespeare. He was also the first translator of Montaigne into English. He was born in London, and in 1580 he married Aline, the sister of poet Samuel Daniel. The couple had three children, Joane Florio, baptised in Oxford in 1585; Edward, in 1588 and Elizabeth, in 1589. He died in Fulham, London in 1625. His Italian and English dictionary, entitled A World of Words, was published in folio in 1598. After the accession of James I, Florio was named French and Italian tutor to Prince Henry and afterwards became a gentleman of the privy chamber and Clerk of the Closet to the Queen Consort Anne of Denmark, whom he also instructed in languages. A substantially expanded version of A World of Words was published in 1611 as Queen Anna's New World of Words, or Dictionarie of the Italian and English.