L'Italo-Americano

LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE " Be the flame, not the m o t h . " ― Giacomo Casanova- Casanova . Lover, scoundrel, amorous pri- vateer of women's hearts…and bodies. Perhaps no other name conjures up such descriptors, and a permanent place in popular urban myth, of a man who loved 'em and left 'em throughout Enlightenment-era Europe. Giacomo Girolamo Casanova would probably find it rather amusing that history paints him so one-dimensionally — a man of unquenchable sexu- al appetite. Albeit true, he was, in fact, much more. So ingrained in modern minds is this narrow view that many question if Casanova were but mere fiction, a n o t h e r c o l o r f u l a n d b a w d y character sprung to life from some old operetta. In reality, Giacomo Casanova was much more than just a voracious play- b o y : h e w a s a l s o a c o m p l e x intellect, scandalous yet kind- h e a r t e d , a s c h e m e r , r e f i n e d , bawdy, and fascinating…a man w h o e m b o d i e d t h e l i b e r t i n e Enlightenment. Interestingly so, you and I are only privy to the insights and intrigue of Casanova thanks to his final act on the European world stage…a 13-volume hand- written memoir chronicling in vigorous, often lurid, detail his life's conquests, adventures, defeats, and reflections. Upon his death in 1798, the volumes — titled The Story of My Life and written in French, the domi- nant upper-class language at the t i m e — w e r e p a s s e d o n t o a nephew, gathering dust until sold to a German publisher in 1821. Miraculously surviving Allied bombing, the manuscript was fully published in 1960 in French, with a 1966 reprint in English to follow. Its release smack in the middle of the sexu- al revolution would've delighted Casanova, as would the continu- ing fascination it created. The complete set was acquired by the French in 2010 for $9.6 mil- lion and is a prized possession of the national library in Paris. The product of a Venetian a c t r e s s a n d a c t o r , G i a c o m o entered the world in 1725 in a disheveled apartment on a side street of Venice. What ensued in the years until his death certain- ly contains enough erotic mater- ial for a lifetime of soap opera scripts, but that is only a portion o f t h e p l u c k y , i f n o t a l w a y s v a l i a n t , l i f e s e l f - s t y l e d b y Casanova. At age 2, the sickly Giacomo w a s u n c e r e m o n i o u s l y g i v e n over to his grandmother's care, his mother too preoccupied by the stage. Sent to a flea-ridden boarding house in Padua at age 9, Casanova eventually found a better life in the home of his s c h o o l m a s t e r , D r . A n t o n i o Gozzi. Under his tutelage, the impressionable youth was intro- duced to music, classical lan- guages, art, theology…and the charms of a female's touch at the hands of Gozzi's younger sister Bettina. Tasked with the grooming of the unkempt ado- lescent, her intentional caresses had quite an effect… "It was she who little by little kindled in my heart the first sparks of a feeling which later became my ruling passion." "The thing is to dazzle." Casanova became a gifted u n i v e r s i t y s t u d e n t i n P a d u a , graduating by age 17 with a law degree. Alongside his studies, he hob-knobbed with the affluent, fine-tuning his inherent ability to dazzle and charm. Transitioning back to an upper-crust Venetian s o c i e t y w a s s e a m l e s s ; Casanova's handsome allure was as enchanting and mystical as the Venetian fog. One such admirer was Don Matteo Bragadin, the first of Casanova's many benefactors. During what was apparently a s t r o k e , t h e n e a r b y C a s a n o v a s t e p p e d i n t o r e s u s c i t a t e Bragadin. Certain this had saved his life, the aristocrat commis- s i o n e d h i m s e l f C a s a n o v a ' s patron, lavishing him with limit- less wealth, prestige, and a free pass into the life of a nobleman. Eighteenth-century Venice and all her seductive charms b e c a m e t h e p l a y g r o u n d f o r young Giacomo, forming the pattern that would become his life. Find a rich patron; pour on the charms; devise schemes and cons to garner wealth; spend lav- i s h l y o n l o v e r s ; s c a n d a l s ensue…and it's time to leave town. Once or twice, however, he d i d n ' t f l e e s o o n e n o u g h . Casanova spent 15 months hid- den away in the most dreaded of cells within the Doge's Palace, his crime declared as blasphemy b y t h e V e n e t i a n I n q u i s i t i o n . Casanova and a disgraced priest managed to devise the only-ever s u c c e s s f u l P a l a c e j a i l b r e a k , m u c h t o t h e a m u s e m e n t o f Venice's citizens. His subse- q u e n t e x i l e l a u n c h e d h i s escapades across the European continent, making Casanova one of the most well-traveled, notori- ous men of his time…and one of its most prolific lovers. Casanova loved women. His writings erotically detail his physical enjoyment, but also reveal his desire for connection and intellect… "Without speech, the pleasure of love is dimin- ished by at least two-thirds." His scope was broad, seducing w o m e n f r o m a l l c l a s s e s — noblewomen to nuns to cham- bermaids. Dr. Lydia Flem, in her book Casanova: The Man Who Really Loved Women, offers an explanation: ''I think he is a m a n w h o c a n u n d e r s t a n d women…a part of him is like a w o m a n . H e l i k e s i n t e l l i g e n t women very much. Women are not just an object of desire, but p e o p l e t o t a l k t o . H e ' s v e r y afraid of hurting them, and he likes to stay friends after being lovers." Despite his many loves and lovers, Casanova never married. Over his lifetime, Casanova p l a y e d t h e r o l e o f s e d u c e r , c h u r c h c l e r i c , g a m b l e r , astrologer, spy, alchemist, hus- tler. He rubbed shoulders with V o l t a i r e , B e n F r a n k l i n , C a t h e r i n e t h e G r e a t , e v e n M o z a r t . H e w a s a p r o l i f i c author, the brilliant mind behind mathematical treatises and state lotteries. A translator of The Iliad into Italian; a connoisseur of fine wine, food, literature, music. An unforgettable bon vivant of his era. T h e r e a r e a l s o n o t - s o - admirable facets of Casanova's life, often overlooked, instead excused as acceptable libertine- e r a e x c e s s e s . H i s m e m o i r s recount sex with underage girls, i n c e s t , a n d e v e n r a p e . " T h e moral judgment never came up," B r u n o R a c i n e , h e a d o f T h e National Library of France, quipped at a press conference. "We neither approve nor con- demn his behavior." "I am writing My Life to laugh at myself, and I am suc- ceeding." In true form, Casanova may b e h a v i n g t h e l a s t l a u g h . Renewed fascination with his life, whether through the lens of admiration or disgust, continues. His complete memoirs are avail- able online (better practice your French), the Casanova Museum a n d E x p e r i e n c e o p e n e d i n Venice in 2018, and various g u i d e d t o u r s f o l l o w i n g Casanova's footsteps are offered for Venetian day-trippers. His charms live on. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano Giacomo Casanova – the man, the myth, the complexities PAULA REYNOLDS A portrait of Giacomo Casanova, the symbol of libertine Venice (Copyright: Dreamstime)

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