Most of our contemporaries associate the name of Giacomo Casanova with numerous amorous adventures. However, this is not entirely true. First of all, Casanova was one of the most educated and mysterious people of his time.
Son of an actress and an aristocrat
It is known that Casanova was born on April 2, 1725 in Venice. His real name is Giacomo Girolamo. The boy's parents were actors Gaetano Giuseppe Casanova and Zanetta Farussi. But according to one version, Giacomo's father was his mother's beloved, the Venetian patrician Michele Grimani.
The child was brought up by his maternal grandmother - Marcia Farussi. The boy turned out to be capable of science and by the age of sixteen had already graduated from the University of Padua, and with two doctoral degrees - in theology and law. After that, the young man went on a journey: first to the Greek island of Corfu, and then to Constantinople.
Handyman
Having no special means, Casanova pursued asceticism in a wide variety of fields. The Encyclopedia Britannica says about him: "Preacher, writer, warrior, spy and diplomat." He was also engaged in mathematics, history, finance, music, served as a librarian for Count Wallenstein in the Czech castle Dux and even was a member of the Masonic order.
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Giacomo traveled all over Europe. He visited France, Holland, Spain, Austria, Russia, Switzerland, Prussia, Poland. Moreover, among his acquaintances were the most outstanding people of that time - Rousseau, Voltaire, Mozart, Saint-Germain. He communicated with monarchs, ministers, cardinals and even the Pope.
From the hands of Pope Clement XIII, our hero received the Order of the Golden Spur - for services in the field of diplomacy. At the same time, the Venetian inquisitors sentenced Casanova to five years in Piombi prison for allegedly engaging in a black book. Giacomo was the first who managed to escape from there, and even with a prisoner from the next cell!
In France, Casanova was in the service of King Louis XV. One of the missions assigned to him was a secret inspection of the navy. He also negotiated with Dutch bankers on behalf of the Ministry of Finance. In Spain, he helped implement a plan for the settlement of the Sierra Morena with Swiss and Bavarian peasants. The Russian Empress Catherine II proposed to carry out an agrarian reform, to colonize the Volga region and Siberia, to breed silkworms near Saratov …
Nevertheless, his main goal - to occupy a high position at one of the European courts - was never achieved. All his projects gave only temporary results, and then they had to look for something new. More than once Casanova tried to organize his own enterprises - but each time he burned out. True, the nobility accepted him as an equal. No one guessed that the "Chevalier de Sengaltes" or "Count Jacob Casanova de Faroussi" was in fact the grandson of a Venetian shoemaker.
Incidentally, Casanova was a fairly prolific author. In addition to the twelve-volume autobiography "The Story of My Life", he penned the fantastic novel "Ikozameron", the book "History of Troubles in Poland" and other works of art. He also translated Homer's Iliad into Italian and wrote a number of mathematical treatises.
Knight of love
Although there were indeed many love affairs in Casanova's life, he still cannot be called one hundred percent Don Juan. In his memoirs, the great adventurer mentions only 144 ladies with whom he had a relationship. True, in one of his letters, Giacomo admits that in fact he had about three times more women than described in his autobiography.
Well, even if there were about five hundred of them. Considering that the described period of sexual adventures covers approximately forty-five years, it turns out that on average Casanova played eleven novels per year. The number, of course, is impressive, but not astronomical.
It should be added that Casanova treated women quite nobly, he was always generous to them, trying to fulfill any whims of his next lover. He could sacrifice important matters for the sake of a lady of the heart, and in love he tried not so much to take as to give. In addition, you will not find in his memoirs bad reviews about any of the women. Although there were reasons: mistresses often sought to use Giacomo in their own interests, or even rob him to the skin.
There is a legend that women who come to look at the grave of Casanova in a quiet cemetery in Czech Duchcov, without fail cling to the hem of their clothes on the iron cross installed there. It seems that the great adventurer maintains his reputation even after death.
Daria Lyubimskaya