[[File:Francisco Florimo.jpg|thumb|A portrait of [[Francesco Florimo]] in later life]]
One of the closest people in Bellini's life was [[Francesco Florimo]], whom he met as a fellow student at the [[Naples Conservatory]]. Throughout Bellini's lifetime, the two shared a close correspondence.{{sfn|Libby|1998|p=242}} During the 1820 revolution, Bellini and Florimo joined a secret society, the Carboneria. Their closeness is evident in their letters. For example, on 12 January 1828 Bellini wrote that theirs were "hearts made only to be friends to the last breath."<ref name="auto"/> Bellini wrote in 1825 that "Your existence is necessary to mine".<ref name="auto"/> Further, on 11 February 1835, Bellini wrote: " my excellent, my honest, my angelic friend! The more we know the world, the more we shall see how rare is our friendship."<ref name="auto"/> Based on these letters, some have speculated about Bellini's [[homosexuality|sexuality]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2001/nov/02/arts.highereducation|title=Feature: Vincenzo Bellini|author=Tim Ashley|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=2 November 2001}}</ref>{{sfn|Galatopoulos|2002}} but Weinstock (1971) believesbelieved such interpretations are anachronistic.{{sfn|Weinstock|1971|p={{page needed|date=December 2021}}}} Rosselli (1996) expands on this point: contrary to how they may seem to modern readers, the expressions of close friendship in these letters were commonplace in Mediterranean societies and the world of early 1800s Italian opera rather than a reflection of sexual attachment.<ref name="auto"/> Once Bellini left Naples for Milan, the two men seldom saw one another; their last meeting was in Naples in late 1832, when Bellini was there with Giuditta Turina, before the pair departed for Milan via Florence. Florimo's published recollections—written fifty years after the events they recall—may be flawed. In later years, Bellini declared that Florimo "was the only friend in whom [I] could find comfort".{{sfn|Galatopoulos|2002|p=30}} Interpretation of Florimo's collection of letters is complicated however by evidence that he often altered or completely fabricated some of his correspondences with Bellini to create an idealized image of the composer.<ref name="auto1">Della Seta 2018{{incomplete short citation|date=December 2021}}</ref><ref name="auto"/> Florimo was also known to have destroyed some compromising letters involving Bellini's affairs with married women, including some in which Bellini wrote in detail about his affair with Giuditta Turina.<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto"/>{{sfn|Walker|1959}} After Bellini's death Florimo became his literary executor.<ref name=TIM/>
