Gaetano Casanova Gaetano Casanova Gaetano Casanova (2 April 1697, Parma – 18 December 1733, Venice) was an Italian actor and ballet dancer. His eldest son was the famous adventurer, Giacomo Casanova. Gaetano Giuseppe Giacomo Casanova was born to Giacomo Casanova (whose family had originally come to Italy from Aragon) and his wife, Anna Roli. His older brother, Giambattista, left home in 1712 and was never heard from again. Gaetano followed suit the following year, having become infatuated with Giovanna Benozzi (1662 - c. 1750), a Commedia dell'arte actress who went by the name of "La Fragoletta" ("The Little Strawberry"). Because of the
Giacomo Casanova a short while, but soon his indebtedness landed him in prison for the first time. An attempt by his mother to secure him a position with Bishop Bernardo de Bernardis was rejected by Casanova after a very brief trial of conditions in the bishop's Calabrian see. Instead, he found employment as a scribe with the powerful Cardinal Acquaviva in Rome. On meeting the pope, Casanova boldly asked for a dispensation to read the "forbidden books" and from eating fish (which he claimed inflamed his eyes). He also composed love letters for another cardinal. When Casanova became the scapegoat for a