It is hard to distinguish between the writer and the protagonist of Casanova’s monumental Histoire de ma vie [History of My Life], “neither the story of a famous man nor a novel”, as Casanova himself writes in the preface. Casanova’s autobiography contains multitudes: in his travels throughout Europe, he met with royalty and crossed paths with legendary figures on both sides of the Enlightenment (Voltaire and Cagliostro); joined the Freemasons and also perhaps the Rosicrucians (Childs); tried his hand at diplomacy (as an envoy of the King of France), entrepreneurship (he managed a state lottery in Paris) and serious scholarship (in his old age); all the while pursuing adventures with women of all stations (his list …
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Citation: Riva, Massimo. "Giacomo Casanova". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 June 2015 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=776, accessed 21 November 2024.]
