Giacomo Casanova

Born in Venice in 1725, Giacomo Casanova trained for the church and earned a law degree, but he never stayed in one role for long. Over the course of his life he worked, at different times, as a clergyman, soldier, violinist, gambler, secretary, and man of letters, while traveling widely across Europe.

He is most famous for Histoire de ma vie (Story of My Life), the sprawling memoir he wrote in French late in life. More than a record of romantic adventures, it paints a lively picture of 18th-century society, from aristocratic salons to everyday customs, and remains one of the best-known firsthand portraits of the period.

Casanova spent his final years as a librarian at Count Waldstein's castle in Dux, in what is now the Czech Republic, where he continued writing until his death in 1798. His reputation as a legendary seducer has long overshadowed the rest of his career, but his lasting importance comes just as much from his sharp eye for people, travel, and social life.