For everyone and about everything. Casanova - who is this? The story of Giacomo Casanova

Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (Italian: Giacomo Girolamo Casanova), Chevalier de Sengalt (April 2, 1725, Venice - June 4, 1798, Dux Castle, Bohemia) - a famous Italian adventurer, traveler and writer, author of a detailed autobiography “The Story of My Life” (French. Histoire de ma vie).

At the age of 11, Casanova was seriously planning to marry 13-year-old Bettina, the sister of a priest from Padua, with whom he was then living. However, the arguments of the holy father convinced Giacomo that becoming an abbot would make him happy rather than becoming an exemplary family man. When the boy was 15 years old, he returned to his hometown of Venice. To begin with, Giacomo achieved the position of preacher in the Venetian church of San Samuele, in which he was baptized. The young, charming abbot turned the heads of the parishioners. However, the abbot's career was ruined due to a drunken stunt.
The fame of the young abbot quickly spread throughout Venice. The lords and senoritas showered their lover with cute trinkets: diamonds, gold coins and expensive furs, vying with each other to invite him to stay at their estates. But Giacomo quickly got bored with all this, and he chose to go to the Seminary of San Cipriano on the island of Murano. But from there, for his love sins, he was sent for correction to the Venetian fort of San Andrea di Lido, which is at the exit to the Adriatic. So Giacomo turned from an abbot into a prisoner.
However, there Giacomo fell ill. Doctors could not identify the strange disease (only in 1879 it received the name “gonorrhea”). Nevertheless, he was prescribed six weeks of strict fasting and cold mercury lotions. Casanova recovered, although during treatment he could not refuse the company of pretty women. He was even proud of the first of his “occupational injuries” (by the end of his life there would be 11 varieties).

From Venice, Casanova fled to Calabria, in southern Italy. To celebrate, he went to a brothel, where he acquired a second illness and lost all the money to a company of tipsy monks. The province was not to Casanova's taste, and he goes to Rome. The Colosseum seemed to him gloomy ruins, but the labyrinths of the ancient Villa Aldobrandini and the gardens of Villa Borghese, on the banks of the Tiber, were for him a real paradise. Which is not surprising, because young girls were constantly walking there! Isn't this a dream?
Casanova was 25 years old when he first visited Paris. Giacomo settled at the Hotel de Bourgogne, famous for the fact that Molière lived there. Gradually, he began to earn money as a “supplier” of beauties to wealthy citizens. For him, love is no longer just a vital need, but also a profession. He seduced the girls he liked (most of all he liked young, thin brunettes), taught them the science of love, social manners, and then, with great benefit for himself, yielded to others - financiers, nobles and even the king himself.
Soon Casanova, accused of further sins, fled to Austria. This country terrified Casanova, because in comparison with the good-natured Pope and the cheerful French court, Empress Maria Theresa looked like a real evil inquisitor. Casanova initially behaved modestly and earned the favor of Maria Teresa and King Franz Stephen. But soon he could not resist and seduced a thirteen-year-old girl, for which he received an order to immediately and forever leave Austria.

At dawn on July 25, 1755, the Inquisition accused Casanova of believing in Satan because he ate meat during Lent. Casanova was imprisoned in Piombi prison for 5 years. The prison consisted of small rooms under the roof of the Doge's Palace. And the roof of this palace was covered with lead slabs.
Escape from captivity became Casanova's persistent dream. After a year and three months, he escaped from prison, which was always considered impossible. He escaped by making a hole in the ceiling and climbing out onto the roof. Casanova's flight from Piombi caused a lot of noise in Europe and brought fame to the adventurer. So at the age of 31, Giacomo Casanova again became a free man, but with the reputation of a political emigrant.

In Paris he had two houses: a luxurious apartment on Rue Montorgueil and a mansion called Petit Pologne (Little Poland). It stood on a small hill next to the royal hunting park. Casanova got rich and became a real playmaker. There were also open clashes with representatives of justice.
Some time later, Casanova was arrested on the Rue Saint-Denis in his own wheelchair. The police took him to Fort-Léveque prison and kept him there for two days until the Duke of Elbeuf (one of Casanova's lovers) paid bail. Casanova was released and went to Holland, and then moved to Switzerland.

On December 15, 1764, riding six horses in fifteen-degree frost, Casanova rode into St. Petersburg. Here he was interested in everything: factories, churches, monuments, museums, libraries. He visited Tsarskoe Selo, Peterhof and Kronstadt. IN Summer Garden Giacomo spoke with Catherine II.
A year later, Giacomo returned to Germany. Over 39 years, Casanova's Don Juan list included 122 women. He slept with aristocrats, with prostitutes, with nuns, with girls, and maybe even with his daughter. There is a version that in Dresden Casanova met his daughter Sophie, who was married and wanted to have children, but her husband turned out to be infertile. Casanova was always happy to please a pretty woman, especially own daughter. Sophie became pregnant, and the happy father left for Spain. From 1775 to 1783, Casanova was an informant for the Inquisition, reporting on the reading of forbidden books, free morals, performances, etc. He even had a pseudonym - Antonio Pratolini.

Years passed, and the only constant in Casanova’s life was wandering. He wandered around Austria, Holland, and France. When the young and very rich Count Waldstein found out about him, Casanova lived in poverty in Teplice (a city in modern Czech Republic). The Count gave Giacomo the post of librarian at his Bohemian castle of Dux (Spirits). There, Giacomo was no longer engaged in love conquests (due to impotence and gout), but in writing memoirs. In his memoirs “The Story of My Life” (written in 1791-1798, and published in 1822-1828), he described his many love and adventurous adventures. Casanova's memoirs have since gained worldwide fame and were soon translated into many languages. European languages. His book was admired by Stendhal, Musset, Delacroix, Akhmatova, Blok, and Tsvetaeva.
Casanova died on June 4, 1798. He was buried in the cemetery in Dux, but exact location no one knows his grave.

Name: Giacomo Casanova

Age: 73 years old

Height: 187

Activity: writer, poet, diplomat, adventurer

Marital status: wasn't married

Giacomo Casanova: biography

The future adventurer was born at a time when the Venetian Republic was rightfully considered the “capital of pleasure”: senior officials Although they had conservative views, they were calm about social vices and developed tourism. As part of the grand tour, Casanova's hometown was visited by young aristocrats who were attracted by gambling houses, courtesans and the famous Carnival. It was in this light atmosphere that one of the most famous Venetians of the 18th century grew up.

Childhood and youth

Giacomo Girolamo Casanova was born in Venice on April 2, 1725. He was the eldest of five children of the actress Zanetta Farussi and the dancer Gaetano Giuseppe Casanova. It is known that two brothers - Francesco Giuseppe and Giovanni Battista - became painters, another, Gaetano Alviso, was a priest. Giacomo's only sister Maria Magdalene married a court musician and worked as a dancer at the Dresden Theater.

For certain known facts The origin of Giacomo Casanova was questioned by the publication Armenia.im. In one of their articles in 2017, employees conducted an investigation, at the end of which they concluded that the adventurer was Armenian by nationality. The publication reports that the Armenian Casanova family appeared in Venice in the 18th century, and it was Giacomo who dealt with the case of tax evasion by Armenian merchants in the city of Trieste.

The main arguments of the publication are based on the fact that in order to communicate with traders, Casanova had to know Armenian. Historians are confident that Giacomo could speak with merchants in his native Italian, and the “Armenian family” was not Casanova, but Noratungyan. How are these two names related? The fact is that “casa nova” translated from Italian means the same thing as “nor tun” from Armenian - new home. There is no more significant evidence for the nationality hypothesis.

House and area where Giacomo Casanova grew up

Giacomo's father died when he was 8 years old. His mother earned money by touring Europe, so the boy spent his childhood with his grandmother Marcia Baldissera. The child suffered from nosebleeds, so on his 9th birthday he ended up in the Padua boarding house for treatment. In one of his essays he would later write that this event was an unpleasant surprise: it seemed to Giacomo that they had gotten rid of him.

The living conditions the boarding house provided were terrible. The boy asked to be taken into the care of his first teacher, Abbot Gozzi, who taught him science and music. From 1734 to 1737, Casanova lived in the family of a priest. There he first falls in love with Gozzi's younger sister, Bettina.

Casanova was naturally intelligent and learned new things quickly and easily. At the age of 12 he entered the University of Padua, from which he graduated 5 years later, receiving a law degree. As he would later write in his essays, the profession did not suit him, but trustee Gozzi hoped that Giacomo would become a church lawyer.

The science that interested Casanova was medicine. The young man wanted to become a doctor, but fate decided differently. IN student years Giacomo showed interest in gambling for money: he quickly found himself in debt and was even called to a conversation with his grandmother. But it did not affect his addiction - his love for the game only took root.

Career

After finishing his studies, he returned to his hometown and got a job as a church lawyer. His appearance already at that moment made the young man stand out from the crowd. Black-eyed, with carefully styled hair, height 1.87 m - his data allowed him to quickly acquire a patron, the Venetian senator Alviso Gasparo Malipiero. He taught the young man etiquette and business manners.

His church career did not work out; he even ended up in prison for debts. Giacomo decided to acquire an officer's patent: he ordered an incredible white uniform with gold epaulettes from a tailor, and bought a long saber. With this look, the handsome man wanted to defeat the residents of the city. But a military career was too boring for the adventurer, and he lost his salary.

Casanova leaves the service and gets a job as a violinist at the San Samuele Theater, where he took part in scandalous festivities and dubious entertainments with pleasure. Giacomo realized the harmfulness of such a life, but saw no other way. Until one day, his knowledge of medicine allowed him to change his life: he found himself in the same gondola with Senator Giovanni di Matteo Bragadin. The official became ill, and Casanova provided first aid.

The senator appointed Giacomo as his referent, trying to make him respectable and educated person. But Casanova loved the idle lifestyle and gambling so much that he could not put an end to it. Giovanni warned that such behavior would end badly, and he was right. For the evil prank of his enemy, to whom Giacomo and his company planted a corpse, he was accused of blasphemy and debauchery. Fearing prison, Casanova flees to Parma.

In 1749, he travels around Italy, leads a dissolute lifestyle, and then goes to Paris. Along the way, he repeatedly indulges in lovemaking.

He lived in France for two years, learned the language, but his lifestyle attracted the attention of the police, so Casanova decided to leave for Germany, then to Austria. As a result, he finds himself in Venice again: drinking and carousing becomes even more unbridled.

Giacomo ends up in a prison for political prisoners, he was accused of a crime against faith. However, Casanova managed to escape, not without the help of his patrons. The adventurer goes to Europe again. Giacomo decided to behave more reservedly, introduced himself as an alchemist, and was familiar with and.

Personal life

Casanova's first contact with the opposite sex occurred at the age of 11, in the house of teacher Gozzi. Became my beloved younger sister priest Bettina. Casanova in his memoirs described her as beautiful, cheerful and passionate about reading. It was this girl who kindled feelings in the heart of the famous adventurer that would become Giacomo’s main passion. Despite the fact that Bettina got married, Casanova retained warm feelings for her throughout his life.

After the first feelings of love and intimate relationships The Casanovas were not burdened by seriousness. In his memoirs, he wrote that the main concerns of life were feelings and pleasures. However, Casanova was always prudent, using “safety caps”, which the man first checked by inflating. Burdening himself with children was not part of his plans.

Giacomo Casanova (left) inflates the "safety cap"

The ideal relationship, according to Giacomo, consisted of four stages: first he found a woman who was dissatisfied with her lover, then he relieved her of the difficulty. Then he seduced the lady, starting a fleeting romance. At the end of the relationship, the lover, losing interest in the woman, set her up with a rich man or arranged her marriage. Giacomo himself was never officially married.

Many of his adventures are described in his memoirs. Historians admit that the stories are full of inaccuracies and may be exaggerated, but the outline of the plot is realistic. It is the memories that allow us to guess how many women Casanova had - at least 120, and in several places in the memoirs the author hints between the lines about relationships with men.

Death

As a result of financial fraud, Casanova acquired a silk manufactory in France. But he was not interested in business: he spent most of the profits on love affairs with his subordinates, turning them into a harem. And again the debts, and again he is on the run. Years of wandering did not pass without a trace for Giacomo: after he was discovered venereal disease, the adventurer returned to Venice.

There were no connections left there, there was no money for women and games. Casanova lived at the expense of the Inquisition - they paid money for espionage. Simply put, he collected gossip about citizens and recorded their statements about the authorities.

During those years, Casanova began to write satirical works, which local residents stole for quotes. They planned to arrest Giacomo for them, so he again decides to leave Venice.

Burial place of Giacomo Casanova

Recent years During his life, Casanova worked as a library keeper at Dux Castle in the Czech Republic. Creativity became the only joy. The man died at 73, far from his homeland, leaving behind about 20 works, the main of which are the memoirs “The Story of My Life.” For more than 6 years he wrote his memoirs without having time to finish them: after Giacomo’s passing, the editors divided the 3,500 sheets into 10 volumes.

Image in culture

The image of Casanova in culture is still relevant: films are made about him, songs are written - the memoirs he left contributed to such fame. The surname Giacomo has become a common name - the nickname “Casanova” is usually given to young men who often change lovers.

Donald Sutherland as Casanova

The characters in Uncle's Dream talk about his notes. Federico Fellini's Casanova won an Oscar for better job costume designer, and the British newspaper Guardian called the film a “masterpiece.” Image ladies' man tried it on.

In 1987, he played the role of Casanova, and in 2005 a series was released in which Giacomo was played by two actors at once: he portrayed a young hero, Peter O’Toole - an adventurer in old age. A modern viewer will immediately remember Lasse Hallström’s film “Casanova,” which was released in 2005. Main role performed in the tape.

The image of Giacomo also appeared in musical compositions, for example, “Casanova” for cello and brass band by the Dutch author Johan de Mey received first place at international competition composers in 1999. Well, every Russian is familiar with the lines of the incendiary hit dedicated to Casanova:

"I am love's lonely tramp Casanova!"

Movies

• 1927 – “Casanova”
• 1943 – “Munchausen”
• 1948 – “The Mysterious Cavalier”
• 1969 – “Childhood, vocation and first experiences of Giacomo Casanova, Venetian”
• 1976 – “Casanova Federico Fellini
• 1981 – “Casanova”
• 1982 – “New World”
• 2006 – “Signs of Love”
• 1987 – “Casanova”
• 1992 – “The Return of Casanova”
• 2002 – “The Young Years of Casanova”
• 2005 – “Casanova”

Quotes

“Being a woman means being able to run away so that you are sure to get caught...”

“They say that old age makes a person wise: I don’t understand how you can love the effect if its cause is disgusting.”

“In our happy times, prostitutes are not needed at all, since decent women willingly meet all your desires.”

“A woman is only as old as she looks.”

“Laughing is the legal right of those who know how everything really happened.”

“You can learn a lot from inexperienced girls.”

“What is love? This is a kind of madness over which reason has no power. This is a disease to which a person is susceptible at any age and which is incurable.”

“I do not conquer a woman, but submit to her.”

“... a person who studies himself carefully will find only weakness in himself.”

The famous Venetian adventurer, “citizen of the world”, as he certified himself, Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (1725 - 1798), whose name became a household name, was not only one of most interesting people of its era, but also its symbol, its reflection. Before his contemporaries and descendants, his readers, he appeared as a truly versatile, encyclopedically educated person: poet, prose writer, playwright, translator, philologist, chemist, mathematician, historian, financier, lawyer, diplomat, musician. And also a gambler, a libertine, a duelist, a secret agent, a Rosicrucian, an alchemist who penetrated the secret of the philosopher's stone, who knows how to make gold, heal, predict the future, and consult with the spirits of the elements. But what is true in the myth that he created about himself?

Casanova's memoirs were published at the beginning of the 19th century, when the literature of romanticism began to incessantly turn to the legend of Don Juan. The eternal image of the Seducer appears in Byron and Pushkin, Hoffmann and Mérimée, Heiberg and Musset, Lenau and Dumas. It was in this tradition that Casanova’s notes were perceived, which for many years were considered the height of indecency. They were banned from publication and hidden from readers.

There were even purely biographical grounds for such an interpretation - Casanova was keenly interested in his literary predecessor, helped his adventurer friend Da Ponte write the libretto for Mozart of the opera “Don Giovanni” (1787). But Casanova’s “Don Juan list” can only amaze the imagination of a very exemplary family man: 122 women in thirty-nine years. Of course, such lists in Stendhal and Pushkin are shorter, and in the famous novels of those years, which were labeled “erotic” (such as the most fascinating “Phoblas” by Louvet de Couvray, 1787 - 1790), there are fewer heroines, but is that true? Is that a lot - three love affairs a year?

Casanova's personality was hidden under many masks. Some he put on himself - a native of Venice, where the carnival lasts six months, a hereditary comedian, a performer in life. Another masquerade costume was put on him by the era, a literary tradition that fit the memoirs into its context. Moreover, the traditions (the one in which the notes were created, and the one in which they were perceived) were directly opposite - what for the 18th century seemed to be the norm, in XIX century became an exception.

The adventurer's main wealth is his reputation, and Casanova carefully maintained it all his life. He immediately turned his adventures into fascinating stories that occupied the society (“I spent two weeks going to lunches and dinners, where everyone wanted to listen in detail to my story about the duel”). He treated his oral “short stories” as works of art; even for the sake of the all-powerful Duke de Choiseul, he did not want to shorten the two-hour story about the escape from Piombi prison. These stories, partially recorded and published by him, naturally grew into memoirs, which largely retained the intonation of live oral speech, a performance in faces played out in front of the listener. Casanova created “The Story of My Life” in his declining years (1789 - 1798), when few people remembered him, when his friend Prince de Ligne introduced him as the brother of the famous battle painter. Casanova was unbearable at the thought that his descendants would not know about him, because he was so eager to make people talk about himself, to become famous. Having created memories, he won the duel with Eternity, the approach of which he almost physically felt (“My neighbor, Eternity, will know that, by publishing this modest work, I had the honor of being in your service,” he wrote, dedicating his last work to Count Waldstein ). The legendary man arose precisely when the memoirs were published.

But, recreating his life anew, transferring it to paper, Casanova moved into the space of culture, where different, artistic laws apply. Each era creates its own patterns of behavior, which we can reconstruct from memoirs and novels. In his everyday behavior, a person involuntarily, and more often consciously, is guided by models known to him (for example, French politicians XVII - XVIII centuries diligently imitated the heroes of Plutarch, especially in times of social upheaval: the Fronde, the Revolution, the Napoleonic Empire; this tradition survived until the Paris Commune). Moreover, when the old society perishes (in 1789, when Casanova began his memoirs, the French monarchy fell, in 1795 after the third partition Poland ceased to exist, and in 1798, the year of his death, disappeared from political map The Venetian Republic, conquered by Napoleon's troops), it is literature that preserves the memory of behavioral norms and offers them to the reader.

Giacomo Casanova belonged to two cultures - Italian and French, which he spent most of his life entering into. Casanova wrote his first literary creations in his native language, but at the end of his life he completely switched to French (although he continued to sin with Italianisms). At that time it was a truly international language, it was spoken in all European countries, and Casanova wanted it to be read and understood everywhere. “The Story of My Life” has become a phenomenon of French culture. It is from this perspective, it seems to us, that it is most fruitful to consider Casanova’s memoirs, although, of course, there was a strong memoir tradition in Italy. Suffice it to recall “The Life of Benvenuto Cellini” (1558 - 1566), a great artist and adventurer who escaped from prison and spent many years in France, like our hero.

Casanova’s memoirs, which at first raised doubts among both readers and researchers about their authenticity (bibliophile Paul Lacroix even considered them to be the author of Stendhal, who really valued the Venetian’s notes), are, in general, very truthful. For many episodes, documentary evidence was found already in the 20th century. Of course, Casanova tries to present himself in the most favorable light, keeping silent about what discredits him, but in many cases he breaks the chronology, rearranges events, combines similar ones (for example, turns two trips to the East into one), following the laws of narration, the requirements compositions. The logic of the plot, the actions of the character he depicts on the pages of his memoirs, can subjugate the truth of life. So, when Casanova’s benefactor and victim Marquise d’Urfe broke off relations with him, he informs the reader that she died - for him she ceased to exist.

In “The Story of My Life” several plot traditions are clearly visible: the adventure and picaresque novel, the psychological story coming from the 17th century, the career novel and the “list” novel of love victories that developed in France during the Enlightenment, and memoirs. It is against their background that the true originality of Casanova’s notes is revealed.

In France, as often happens, interest in memoirs arose after periods of strong social upheaval: religious wars(1562 - 1594), Frondes (1648 - 1653). Prose then was dominated by multi-volume baroque novels, where the heroic and gallant adventures of centuries ago were glorified in a sublime style - as in “Artamen, or the Great Cyrus” (1649 - 1653) by Madeleine de Scudéry. Memoirs that described the recent past brought into literature genuine and cruel events, bloody dramas, love affairs, military exploits, examples of high nobility and calculating meanness. It was under the influence of memoirs that psychological stories began to emerge at the end of the 17th century (“The Princess of Cleves” by Madame de Lafayette, 1678), which supplanted the Baroque epic and prepared the way for the “plausible” novel of the 18th century.

Memoirs were written (or, less often, secretaries composed for them) queens (Marguerite of Valois, Henrietta of England), ministers (Sully, Richelieu, Mazarin), nobles, court ladies, military leaders, judges, prelates (Dukes of Bouillon, Angoulême, Guise, de Rohan , Mademoiselle de Montpensier, Marshal Bassompierre, first president of parliament Mathieu Molay, Cardinal de Retz, etc.), aristocratic writers (Agrippa d'Aubigné, Francois de La Rochefoucauld). The popularity of memoirs was so great that at the turn of the 17th - 18th centuries, the interpenetration of “fiction” and “documentary” prose began. Fake memories of genuine ones appeared historical figures. They were produced in large numbers by the gifted writer Gaetan Courtille de Sandra, the most famous of which are “Memoirs of M. d’Artagnan” (1700), where military exploits, espionage, deceptions, political intrigues and, most importantly, success with women bring good luck to a musketeer.

Most of our contemporaries associate the name 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 its 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 lover, the Venetian patrician Michele Grimani.

The child was raised by his maternal grandmother, Marcia Farussi. The boy turned out to be capable of science and by the age of sixteen he had already graduated from the University of Padua, with two doctoral degrees - in theology and law. After this, the young man went on a journey: first to greek island Corfu and then to Constantinople.

Handyman

Having no special means, Casanova worked in a wide variety of fields. The Encyclopedia Britannica describes him as "Preacher, writer, warrior, spy and diplomat." He also studied mathematics, history, finance, music, served as a librarian for Count Waldstein in the Czech castle of Dux and was even a member of the Masonic order.

Giacomo traveled all over Europe. He visited France, Holland, Spain, Austria, Russia, Switzerland, Prussia, and 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 his services in the field of diplomacy. At the same time, Venetian inquisitors sentenced Casanova to five years in the Piombi prison for allegedly practicing witchcraft. Giacomo was the first to escape from there, and even together with a prisoner from the next cell!

In France, Casanova was in the service of King Louis XV. One of the missions entrusted to him was a secret inspection navy. He also negotiated with Dutch bankers on behalf of the Ministry of Finance. In Spain, he promoted the plan to populate the Sierra Morena with Swiss and Bavarian peasants. Russian Empress Catherine II was offered to hold agrarian reform, colonize the Volga region and Siberia, breed silkworms near Saratov...

However, it 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 he had to look for something new. More than once Casanova tried to organize his own enterprises, but each time he went broke. True, the nobility accepted him as an equal. No one had any idea that the “Chevalier de Sengalt” or “Count Jacob Casanova de Farussi” was actually the grandson of a Venetian shoemaker.

By the way, Casanova was quite a prolific author. In addition to the twelve-volume autobiography “The Story of My Life,” he wrote the fantasy novel “Icozameron”, the book “The History of Troubles in Poland” and others works of art. He also translated Homer's Iliad into Italian and wrote a number of mathematical treatises.

Knight of Love

Although love affairs There really was a lot in Casanova’s life, but he still cannot be called a 100% Don Juan. In his memoirs, the great adventurer mentions only 144 ladies with whom he had relations. True, in one of Giacomo’s letters he 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. If we consider that the described period of sexual adventures covers approximately forty-five years, it turns out that on average Casanova had eleven affairs per year. The number is, of course, impressive, but not astronomical.

It is worth adding that Casanova acted quite nobly with women, he was always generous to them, trying to fulfill any whim of his next lover. He could sacrifice for the lady of his heart important matters, and in love I tried not so much to take as to give. Moreover, you will not find bad reviews about any of the women in his memoirs. Although there were reasons: mistresses often sought to use Giacomo to their advantage or even rob him completely.

There is a legend that women who come to look at Casanova’s grave in a quiet cemetery in Duchcovo, Czech Republic, certainly cling with the hem of their clothes to the iron cross installed there. It seems that the great adventurer maintains his reputation even after death.

Name: Giacomo Girolamo Casanova

Years of life: 2.04 1725 - 4.06 1798

State: Italy

Scope of activity: Adventurer, Writer, Traveler

Greatest Achievement: Writing the book “The Story of My Life.” The most famous lover in history.

What do you call a man who doesn’t miss a single skirt, constantly changes partners (and even manages to make them fall in love with him). Womanizer? A little rude (although to the point). Sorry... Quite rude. And then a wonderful surname comes to mind, which has already become synonymous with inconstancy in relationships - Casanova. The name already lives separately from the owner himself. And who was he? real person? Was the historical figure named Casanova really so loving? Or were these the machinations of the ill-wishers of the famous Venetian?

Early years

The future great lover was born into a family of actors on April 2, 1725. On that day, Catholics celebrated the bright holiday of Easter; it seemed that nothing foreshadowed such an ambiguous fate for the baby. His parents constantly toured, so his maternal grandmother raised Giacomo and his brothers and sisters. When he was 8 years old, his father died.

Here's what needs to be done small retreat about what Venice was like in those years. Despite the strict rule of the Doges and the influence catholic church The Republic of Venice was a city of fairly free morals. The authorities turned a blind eye to the abundance of gambling houses (as we would now put it, casinos), prostitutes who became famous throughout Italy - the Venetian courtesans.

Giacomo did not like to remember his childhood - it was not too happy. He was sickly as a child, and he was sent to Padua, away from the musty air of Venice, where he spent several years alone at a monastery. Since he did not like the living conditions there, Casanova asked to live with his teacher, Abbot Gozzi.

It should be noted that Giacomo was a very smart boy, had a sharp mind and did great success in studies. But he ceased to be interested in all this when the abbot’s younger sister began to flirt with him. Giacomo himself recalled that it was she who kindled that fire of passion in his heart that would be impossible to extinguish throughout his life.

In 1737, Casanova entered the University of Padua and graduated five years later with a diploma in ecclesiastical jurisprudence. It would seem that there is nothing unusual in this fact, except for the age of the boy - at the time of admission he was only 12! Therefore, one can judge Casanova not only from a “bed” point of view, but also by his mind. Although, to be honest, studies attracted him little - at the university he became addicted to card games and pretty quickly lost all my money. I had to borrow. The grandmother heard about this and immediately called her grandson “on the carpet.” He promised to improve, but, as they say, there are no former gamblers.

Giacomo received his first sexual experience (full-fledged) from two sisters, after which the career of a lawyer, which was just beginning to improve (Giacomo even managed to take tonsure) no longer attracted the young youth. In 1743, her grandmother dies, and Casanova returns to Venice, where he enters the seminary. Unfortunately, he didn’t stay there either - he was kicked out for gambling debts.

Already young man Casanova was distinguished by his spectacular appearance - black eyes, dark hair, tall. This is exactly how Senator Malipiero saw him, who took the young man under his protection. He taught him good manners and etiquette (later, in order to get even higher, Casanova will come up with noble title de Sengalt). In addition, Giacomo managed to serve time in prison for his debts. But even here failure awaited him - he soon seduced a young Italian woman, the senator’s beloved, and he could not tolerate such an insult and kicked both of them out into the street.

The beginning of a wild life

It will seem to a modern person that Casanova is simply a god from bed. In fact, he had few mistresses - 122 over 39 years. But in those days this was the height of debauchery. And after being deprived of the patronage of the highest official of Venice, Giacomo, as they say, goes to great lengths. And the punishment did not take long to arrive - he was sentenced to arrest for blasphemy and a dissolute lifestyle.

In 1749, Casanova fled to Parma, traveled around Italy for some time (naturally, leaving behind him a trail of girls he conquered), and then moved to France.

Do you think he became calmer there? No matter how it is! With his unbridled behavior, he attracts the attention of the police, hides in Germany and Austria, but the same thing is repeated there. In the end, he returns home to Venice (although it is in Paris that he meets a lady named Henrietta, with whom Casanova falls madly in love, but his feelings remain unanswered - she was, according to him, the only woman who aroused love and passion in his heart).

The authorities were just waiting for him - until he escaped, they quickly arrested him, brought political charges against him and threw him into prison. However, he managed to escape - not without the help of high-ranking officials.

During this period, in the early 1750s, Giacomo became a member of the Masonic order, for which he was again arrested and this time sent to a more secure prison - Piombi, or the “Lead” prison. During his imprisonment, he met (through the wall) a neighbor - a monk who had abandoned his faith and beliefs. Together they made a hole in the ceiling and climbed out of the prison onto the roof, from there, using a rope from sheets, to the ground and into the darkness.

Last years of life

Gradually his sexual appetite tamed. He paid more and more attention to thoughts and philosophy. Always attentive to details, Giacomo was careful in bed - he did not leave a single heir (he wore a special cap, a prototype of a modern condom). In 1763, after a night with a courtesan, he felt that sex and the love side of life no longer interested him. This was also caused by the fact that he was diagnosed with a venereal disease (years of numerous sexual relationships took their toll, even despite protection). Gradually, he stopped finding young aristocrats and switched to a “cheaper” option - innkeepers and waitresses. And most were already older ladies.

In general, fate took him around Europe - he lived in Germany, France, Italy, Austria, last refuge became the Czech Republic. In 1785, Casanova moved to Bohemia and settled in Duchtsov Castle, where he began translating and writing books. He also started working for the first time in his life - as a library caretaker. It was in this castle that his main work, “The Story of My Life,” was written, where, among other things, he describes his amazing escape from Piombi prison.

The great lover of Venice died on June 4, 1798, having finally heard that the republic had been captured by troops.