The real Casanova: The spy, alchemist and librarian behind the lover's legend

India Today

3 days ago

In 1755, Giacomo Casanova, locked away in the attic prison of Venice's Doge's Palace, stared at the wooden ceiling above him. Imprisoned for "public outrages against the holy religion" -- possibly linked to his dealings in occultism and freemasonry -- his future looked bleak.The Piombi, named for its lead-covered roof, was infamous for its unbearable heat and isolation, and he was sentenced without trial to five years in the attic prison. But this was Casanova -- charming, clever, and impossibly hard to contain. He refused to sit quietly.advertisementOver the next 15 months, battling illness and despair, he quietly chipped away at his cell's roof with a smuggled iron bar. After months of sawing, hiding tools in a Bible, and teaming up with another inmate, Father Marino Balbi, on the night of October 31, 1756, he climbed out through the roof.
He slipped into a hallway, broke into an office, and dressed as an official and full of confidence, he simply walked out the front door.Casanova's daring escape became one of history's most legendary jailbreaks and is recounted in his Histoire de ma vie, and backed up by records from the Doge's Palace.Yes, the same man known for his flings also pulled off one of Europe's most unbelievable prison breaks. And that's just the beginning.
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EARLY LIFE OF A RUNAWAY PRIESTBorn in Venice on April 2, 1725, Casanova was the son of actors. Or possibly a Venetian nobleman -- he speculated in his memoirs but could never confirm. His father died when he was young, and he was sent off to study theology.He became a priest briefly as well, but let's just say temptation won. He abandoned the church for gambling, travelling, and chasing stories across Europe.He even pursued law at the University of Padua but soon found the allure of adventure more compelling than legal studies. His life was a tapestry of diverse roles: soldier, violinist, gambler, spy, and even alchemist.Casanova's intelligence and charm opened doors to Europe's elite circles, where he engaged with some of the era's most prominent figures.By his own account, he had affairs with more than 120 women, but his memoirs are filled with more than bedroom tales. They reveal a man hungry for experience, status, and knowledge.FRIENDS, ENEMIES, AND CHESS WITH VOLTAIRECasanova's travels brought him into contact with luminaries of the Enlightenment. In Geneva, he visited Voltaire at the Chteau de Ferney. The two reportedly played chess, but it wasn't exactly a bromance.Casanova found the philosopher arrogant; Voltaire found him entertaining. Still, they debated everything from God to logic. Casanova might've preferred wine and women, but he could hold his own in a salon full of Enlightenment thinkers.
DINNER WITH CATHERINE THE GREATCasanova's journeys took him as far as Russia, where he managed a brief audience with Catherine the Great in 1765. She was one of the most powerful rulers in Europe; he, a wandering intellectual with a scandalous past.According to accounts from that time, they talked about censorship, politics, and the freedom of thought. Casanova respected her, and the feeling -- at least diplomatically -- was mutual.FRANKLIN, ELECTRICITY, AND A SHARED VIEW ON SEDUCTIONCasanova also met Benjamin Franklin, an esteemed physicist and one of the founding fathers of America, in Paris in 1783. They spoke about electricity, revolution, the burgeoning field of aeronautics, and yes, women.According to Casanova's memoirs, he once told Franklin that 'seduction is a science.' Franklin didn't argue. The two admired each other's cleverness, though they walked very different paths.advertisementA SWORD AND A WOMAN IN WARSAWIn Warsaw, he got into a duel over a mistress. His opponent was a Polish noble, and the ensuing duel left Casanova with a slashed hand. Ever the romantic, he considered the injury a badge of love, claiming he "bled for love."The duel made it to the local gossip and court letters -- proof that Casanova, even when embarrassed, knew how to spin a good story.
HENRIETTE: THE ONE WHO GOT AWAYDespite the countless lovers he wrote about, there was one who haunted him -- Henriette, a French noblewoman. Their time together was brief, just around three months, but real.She left him with grace and without bitterness. And he never got over her.While her real identity remains unconfirmed, many scholars believe she was based on a real French noblewoman.NOT JUST A LOVER -- ALCHEMIST, INVENTOR, AND SPYBeyond his romantic endeavors, Casanova dabbled in alchemy, freemasonry, and espionage.He worked briefly as a secret agent for the Venetian Inquisitors of State and attempted to sell a lottery system to the French government. His reports, coded and clever, are stored in Venetian archives. He even designed a steam-powered machine to raise canal boats.advertisementIn Paris, he dabbled in alchemy, claimed to be a Rosicrucian, and ever the showman, he wowed a rich widow by pretending to speak to her dead husband. He used chemistry and a few party tricks to convince her it was real. She sued him later, but nothing came of it -- possibly due to his influential patrons.Casanova was sometimes as a nobleman, sometimes as a priest, and once even as a violinist.A MAN OBSESSED WITH HOW HE'D BE REMEMBEREDCasanova cared deeply about his reputation -- not just as a lover, but as a thinker. He did write letters to figures like Rousseau, d'Alembert, and Goethe, though not all of these exchanges developed into lasting correspondence.He wanted to be taken seriously. In many ways, he was. But the tales of his bedroom still overshadow his debates with royalty, his prison escape, and his late-life reflection.
advertisementTHE LIBRARIAN OF BOHEMIAEventually, the drama wore thin. In his 60s, exiled from Venice, Casanova settled into a quiet job as a librarian at Castle Dux (in today's Czech Republic). Hired by Count Joseph Karl von Waldstein, he spent his final years writing.The result? A massive 12-volume memoir, Histoire de ma vie ('Story of My Life'), filled with stories of escape, passion, betrayal, and sharp observations about the people and politics of 18th-century Europe. It remains a vital historical document.In 2010, the Bibliothque nationale de France acquired the original manuscript of Histoire de ma vie, which had long been held in private hands in Germany. Its authenticity was already well established among scholars. You can read parts of them today -- and they're just as wild and witty as you'd expect.On June 4, 1798, Giacomo Casanova passed away quietly in Castle Dux, at the age of 73.Casanova may be forever stamped with the label of a legendary lover, but his life was anything but one-dimensional. From debating philosophers to breaking out of a fortress prison, he lived like a man in constant pursuit of reinvention.His greatest seduction wasn't of women -- it was of history itself. And somehow, it worked.