Zanetta, mother of Giacomo Casanova and a theater actress, entrusted him to his grandmother Marzia when he was just one year old. Marzia became the central figure of his childhood. Giacomo grew up with his grandmother in Calle degli Orbi, facing difficult years, often ill, to the point of being taken to a sorceress in Murano for treatment.
After the death of her husband, Zanetta sought help from the Grimani patricians of the Santa Maria Formosa branch. Michele Grimani, probably Giacomo’s biological father, and his brother, Abbot Alvise Grimani, took care of the young boy, sending him to study in Padua. Although he was destined for an ecclesiastical career, Giacomo showed little interest in religious vocation and became more passionate about scientific, literary, and philosophical studies, which laid the foundation for his cultural education and adventurous spirit.
Casanova’s birthplace, located near San Samuele, was demolished in the 1930s to make way for a school. However, the memory of his childhood remains alive in Calle de le Muneghe, where his grandmother Marzia moved in 1731 to a house marked with the number one, now identified as civic number 2993. This is the place that, more than any other, preserves the connection to his early years.
