Emilia (Othello) Award nomination for her performance. "Othello" has its source in the 1565 tale, "Un Capitano Moro" from "Gli Hecatommithi" by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. While no English translation of Cinthio was available in Shakespeare's lifetime, it is probable that Shakespeare knew both the Italian original and Gabriel Chappuy's 1584 French translation. Cinthio's tale may have been based on an actual incident occurring in Venice about 1508. The only named character in Cinthio's story is "Desdemona". Other characters are identified only as the Moor, the squadron leader, the ensign, and the ensign's wife – the original of Shakespeare's Emilia. There's no
Othello Shakespearean plays that was never adapted and changed during the Restoration and the eighteenth century. As Shakespeare regained popularity among nineteenth-century French Romantics, poet, playwright, and novelist Alfred de Vigny created a French translation of "Othello", titled "Le More de Venise", which premiered at the Comédie-Française on 24 October 1829. Famous nineteenth-century Othellos included Ira Aldridge, Edmund Kean, Edwin Forrest, and Tommaso Salvini, and outstanding Iagos were Edwin Booth and Henry Irving. The most notable American production may be Margaret Webster's 1943 staging starring Paul Robeson as Othello and José Ferrer as Iago. This production was the first ever in