Carlo Goldoni “The Italian Molière” (1707-1793)

Carlo Goldoni Goldoni was born in Venice on 25 February 1707, on the corner of Ca' Cent'Ammi.

He died in Paris on 6 February 1793 “between infirmities and miseries”.

A turbulent childhood and youth

In his memoirs, written in French, he recounts his happy and eventful childhood and youth.

“I did not cry when I first saw the light of day. This gentleness seemed to reflect my peaceful nature, which has never wavered since.”
Carlo Goldoni

His good nature blossomed in a bourgeois home in Venice, surrounded by a large, happy and joyful family: with a grandfather who put on shows and operas at home, and a father who entertained him with a small marionette theatre that he had made himself.

Nomadic student with a passion for comedy

Carlo Goldoni composed his first opera at the age of 8, in front of his mother. Engraving by Antonio Baratti

Carlo Goldoni at age 8 At the age of 9, he left for college in Perugia, where he performed in a play and composed his first piece.

It would appear at the top of the list of his works in his memoirs.

He continued his studies in various cities in Italy, due to his father's work as a doctor, but also and above all to follow his whims as a young man passionate about theatre and comedy.

In Rimini, instead of the Barbara and Baralipton enthymemes that racked his brain, he delighted in reading Aristophanes, Plautus and Terence.

And he does not hesitate to follow a theatre troupe whose young actresses persuade him to make the journey from Rimini to Chioggia:

“With us, in our boat, we play, we laugh, we sing, we have fun.”

Three days of travel... at the age of 14, Goldoni experienced an astonishing symbiosis of theatre and the joys of life that he would never forget...

“I have been to France, I have been to Spain
I have been to London and Germany
But as charming as the Venetians
Tender as gentle doves
I have seen nowhere else.”
Carlo Goldoni

Learning the legal profession

Carlo Goldoni In Venice, he worked as a clerk in his uncle's law office.

Then he moved to Milan and Pavia, where he studied law as a dilettante... and from where he was expelled for ridiculing the young women of the city!

1725-27, he was reunited with his father in Udine, Gorizia, Vipacco and Modena, where he resumed his law studies.

During this period, he was tempted to enter holy orders.

A lawyer, writer, street performer and... assistant to the chief of police

1728-29: his father called him back to Chioggia, where his mother lived.

Carlo became assistant to the chief of the criminal police.

He took advantage of this opportunity to study the minor events of the day and listen to the gossip and rumours he heard from his window, which inspired him to write the famous “Chioggia disputes”.

Carlo Goldoni Venetian lawyer

After changing jobs, he resumed his studies in Padua and obtained the title of Venetian lawyer in 1732.

No sooner had he established himself as a lawyer in Venice than debts and other problems forced him once again to wander from city to city, unable to settle down, taking on a variety of jobs.

1735-36, his passion for the theatre led him to follow the troupe of Giuseppe Imer: to Padua, Udine, and Genoa, where he married Nicoletta, a 19-year-old notary's daughter.

Love, Happiness and Disappointments

Carlo Goldoni, L'Arcadia in Brenta This “wandering mania” that he inherited from his father was not necessarily a sign of instability.

This picaresque period was a learning experience: he experienced disappointing love affairs and was the victim of thieves, cheats and impostors...

But he never complained, showing no resentment, misanthropy or melancholy:

“Thank heaven, neither sorrow nor reflection ever affected my appetite or my sleep.”

An Honourable Adventurer