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 and Voltaire, and arrived in Marseille, then Genoa, Florence, Rome, Naples, Modena, and Turin, moving from one sexual romp to another. In 1760, Casanova started styling himself the Chevalier de Seingalt, a name he would increasingly use for the rest of his life. On occasion, he would also call himself Count de Farussi (using his mother's maiden name) and when Pope Clement XIII presented Casanova with the Papal Order of the Éperon d'or, he had an impressive cross and ribbon to display on his chest. Back in Paris, he set about one of his most outrageous schemes—convincing his old dupe