Hijacker, deceiver and poet

-Bothed on German state radio dw-

He became famous for his love adventures, but Casanova was also a priest, writer, diplomat and spy. He was born in Venice 300 years ago – and his name is still known all over the world.

Giacomo Girolamo Casanova watches his long, thin figure in the mirror decorated with gold and arranges some haircuts. Everything should be perfect when the lady of his heart comes. The chimney and beautiful furniture are reflected in the light of many candles, the flowers on the carpets of the walls look like they dance in the glittering light. Mussels, deer meat and champagne are ready on the table. The beauty, who has been waiting for Casanova, is amazed at the scene he has prepared. After the dinner, the fraudster seduces him into the bedroom, where they are given the game of love between silk and Damascus.

So can Casanova’s meetings with his girlfriends, based on the memoirs he left behind.

« Since I felt born for the opposite sex, I always loved him and let him love me, as hard as I could, » Casanova writes in his memoirs, « The History of My Life ». There he mentions by name 116 lovers, though historians assume that he had a love affair with several thousand. These included high -layer ladies and girls from good families, but also prostitutes and even two nuns.

Casanova never married

His many connections include Marie-Louise O’Murphy, the girlfriend of the French king Louis XV. Or that Henrieta, which he separates from a Hungarian officer in Italy, and since he says goodbye to Geneva, she scratched with a diamond in the glass of the guest room window: « You will forget Henrieta! » He often promised marriage to the ladies, but never married. And though they were aware of his unstable life, they fall prey to his charm.

But Casanova is wronged, if he sees him only as Don Juan, says Italian Carlo Parodi, who in 2018 opened a museum in Venice for his famous compatriot (the museum did not survive the Korona Pandemia, the editor’s note). « Casanova, » he points out, « he was a great thinker, writer and philosopher who has unjustly entered history only as a great lover. »

Childhood and years of schooling

Giacomo Girolamo Casanova was born on April 2, 1725 as the eldest son of a family of actors. Because his parents often go to the tournament, leave him in the care of grandmother Mariza. At the age of 12 he studies secular and ecclesiastical justice at the University of Padua and at the age of 17 doctors. He does not end his priestly career, not because he falls into the speaker during the preaching, but because after three years the profession does not attract him. And the basket with the help of the church was not so much filled with coins as with passionate love letters.

He proves fate in different professions: he is secretary, cadet, lieutenant, violinist in orchestra, poet and writer, alchemist, secret Inquisition agent, financial speculative, diplomat and librarian – to name only some of his many activities.

For Casanova the world of little people from which it comes from is a horror. He wants to belong to those whom he blindly admired: the patricians. Although they do not like the arrogance of the aristocracy, their cozy and luxurious lives love them very much. After Casanova helps the respected senator Matteo Bragadin, the moment he suffers a cerebral stroke, he becomes his protector.

« Whoever you are, » he told the 21-year-old then, « I have life from you. » From that moment on he receives food and dwelling, a servant, a gondola, ten ducats of gold a month like a pocket and the promise of his eternal patronage. « This, » says Casanova, « is the whole story of my metamorphosis and happy time, where I rose from the position of a poor violinist to that of a dear master. »

Spectacular escape from lead rooms

Casanova quickly becomes the favorite of high society. It has a multifaceted training, whether in theology, alchemy, medicine or mathematics, -Venice is able to discuss any topic. In addition to Italian, he also speaks French, Greek and Latin, and is a fun interlocutor. So it is not difficult to fascinate people. But it constantly causes the anger of the upper class.

Thus on July 26, 1755, he is jailed in the infamous lead rooms, a prison in the attic of the Venetian Dosero Palace with lead roofs. He is accused of blasphemy and « insulting the sacred religion », possession of forbidden books, practicing magic and seducing young people into atheism. The most likely are, Casanova, who has made the Condulmer state inquisitor, made an enemy because of the love of a lady, whom Condulmer himself wants.

Giacomo suffers from fever and chills, fleas absorb the blood and there is no air in the dungeon. « The only thought that ruled me was the escape, » he wrote later. So far no one has ever left the lead rooms, but Casanova manages to escape. He goes to Paris, where the story of his spectacular escape has already spread and he is expected as a hero.

Juggler

Casanova is an excellent rogue. He constantly devours large sums of money that naive souls, especially women, trust him. For example, Madame d’urfé, one of France’s richest aristocrats. It is obsessed with occult ideas and is eager to rejuvenate from miracles. Casanova can blind him with his knowledge in alchemy, and since he, as he confesses in his memoirs, cannot remove Marquez from her false conviction, prefers to strip her money out of his pocket.

An unexpected profit also brought him the idea of ​​establishing a lottery in France in 1757; The director’s position is extremely profitable. His crate continues to be filled. With the secret order of the French Foreign Minister he carries out difficult financial transactions on the scholarship abroad.

But despite his staggering income Casanova is constantly bankrupt because he spends money with both hands and is addicted to gambling. But because of the absolutely safe behavior in itself – after 1758 he is boldly presented with the self -proclaimed aristocratic title « Chevalier de Seingalt » – there are constantly high -ranking people, who come to guarantee letters of commendable recommendation. However things do not always go well for Bon Vivant: he ends up in prison six times during his life and is expelled from as many places.

On the trip over and over

Throughout his life Casanova travels from one royal courtyard to another throughout Europe. His talent, to always move to the highest districts, creates excellent contacts. He meets Mozart and Voltaire and meets in Rome with Pope Clement XIII, who proclaims the knight of the Golden Spur. The great Frederick offers him a position as a teacher at the Junker School in Pomerani, which he refuses. Russian Queen Katerina e Madhe welcomed her twice in a row.

Hardly any of Casanova’s contemporaries may have traveled as much as Venetian: Historians have calculated that during his life he has traveled a distance equal to the perimeter of the earth. With the means of transport of that time, on horseback, in a wheelchair or by boat, this was a tremendous achievement.

When he returned to Venice in 1774 after 17 years in exile, he was physically exhausted; His hometown, once a scene for his many orgies, no longer attracts him.

What leaves behind

Casanova was 60 years old, lonely and angry, when he was hired as a librarian of Count Waldstein at Dux castle of Bohemia in 1785. Five years later he began writing his memoirs. He stands up to nine hours a day on the manuscript, and writes 3700 pages. On June 4, 1798 Casanova dies at the age of 73 as a result of syphilis or urinary bladder disease, it is not known for sure. He is in limbo.

His memories are kept secret until the 20th century, censors do not tolerate free descriptions of his sexual adventures. The work is secretly sold under hand. But when it finally it is published, it makes it immortal. It offers a unique overview of the life and society of that time and translates into 20 languages. At the same time it is the most expensive handwritten manuscript in the world: in 2010 the French state buys it for seven million euros.

The location of Casanova’s tomb today is no longer known, but the motto of his life is: « I loved women to madness », but « I have always loved my freedom more ».