Giacomo Casanova, Born in Venice in 1725 and died in 1798, it is often remembered how seducerbut reducing it to this only image means neglecting the complexity of the character. It was a curious intellectualcapable of ranging between different disciplines: he studied the right, he dedicated himself to music, translated ancient texts such as Iliad, he cultivated interest in the occult, science and the arts. Great traveler and free spirit, he came into contact with sovereigns, popes and philosophers of his time, leaving in his memories a vivid and irreverent portrait of eighteenth -century Europe.
The first years of Giacomo Casanova: study and life in Venice
The April 2, 1725in Venice, in a family of wealthy but not noble actors and artists, was born Giacomo Casanova; He soon lost his father, and his childhood was lonely. It was the aristocratic family of Grimani To offer him protection, even if some sources want to be cared for by maternal grandmotherothers from a sort of sorceress a Murano. In any case, his very first years of life had an important impact for him, because they transmitted to him The interest in the art of occultism that in the following years he was part of his training course. Animated by one great intelligence, curiosity and love for the studyat just nine years old he was sent to Padua To study letters, philosophy, Greek, mathematics and music.
At eighteen, Giacomo became abbot And he returned to Venice where, thanks to his highly high education and his new “title”, he had access to more prestigious lounges. In these years he made friends with Pietro Zagurinoble patron, with whom he entertained a long correspondence in the years to come, made of friendship, reflections on politics and society, personal comparisons and artistic protection. Having studied right, Giacomo worked at the service of Lawyers and notaries: he began to travel and Knowing Europeperfected different languages and he met Freemasonry. In the 1750 to Lyon he joined the loggia Free masonry.
The accusation of libertinage, the imprisonment and the escape from Piombi’s secrets
It is in these travels that His fame as “libertine” is born: The relationships that entertained, both in Venice and elsewhere, are considered immoral and harmful. For this, in 1755came arrested by the inquisitors of his cityand locked up to Ducal palacein the secrets of Piombi.
He was supposed to serve five years in prison but, in July 1756Casanova evaded by collaborating with his cellmate, Father Marino Balbi: he fled abroad, traveling for Italy and Europe as sought after and fugitive. He returned to Venice after 18 years.
The illustrious knowledge and last years of Casanova
Mozart, TurnBenjamin Franklin, Pope Clement XIIICaterina La Tsarina di Russia: these are just some of the illustrious contemporaries that Casanova meets during her peregrinations. His charismaits great culture and the charm He exercises are his passing: listening to his stories is fascinating, spending time extremely stimulating with him. Relations with aristocratic and famous women, intrigues and illegitimate children: in recent years he consecrated his fame of Donnaioloof “Casanova”, in fact, scandalous for the time but which characterizes it over the centuries to come.
In 1774 Casanova obtained thepardon: no more convictions, he was able to return to his Venice And as soon as he returned, he proposed himself as a spy to the inquisitors. But the experiment failed: it was too well known, too theatrical, impossible to keep under track. Venice did not fall for this, but for An affront to the Grimanithe family that had protected him as a child. In fact, in a libel, Casanova proclaimed himself illegitimate son of Michele Grimani: a huge scandal. In 1783 the definitive exile arrived.
Since then Giacomo lived between Vienna and Bohemia, in Duchcov, as a librarian of Count Waldstein. Even after death, an enigma remains: in Duchcov there is a plaque with its name, but but The real tomb of Casanova has never been found.
