In Inferno XV, which Florentine mentor of Dante appears in the seventh circle?

In Inferno XV, Dante meets his Florentine mentor Brunetto Latini in the seventh circle of Hell.

Brunetto appears among the souls punished for violence against nature, represented by a burning plain of sand under a rain of fire. The condemned must keep moving continuously; stopping exposes them to harsher punishment. Dante recognizes Brunetto and addresses him respectfully as “master,” showing the profound intellectual and personal influence Latini had on him.

Latini was a Florentine notary, statesman, encyclopedist, and author of Li Livres dou Tresor, commonly called the Tresor. Dante credits him with teaching him how a person can achieve lasting fame through worthy work. During their conversation, Brunetto predicts Dante’s political exile and urges him to follow his star.

The encounter is often misunderstood as simple condemnation of an enemy. Dante expresses genuine affection and gratitude for Brunetto even while placing him among the damned, one of the poem’s clearest examples of moral judgment coexisting with personal respect.