His real name was Giovanni Battista Viassolo; he took his pen-name from the title of one of his first pieces, Camillo e Federico.
The praise he received for his early attempts made him persevere this choice of career, and he obtained engagements with several companies both as writer and actor.
He settled at Padua, and the reputation of his numerous comedies rapidly spread in Italy, for a time eclipsing that of his predecessors.
When his financial success came to an end, he found a helpful friend in a wealthy merchant of Padua, Francis Barisan, for whose private theatre he wrote many pieces.
In 1802, he undertook to prepare a collected edition; but of this four volumes only were completed when he was again taken ill, and died at Padua.