Enlightenment on Casanova's sexual preferences

New evidence confirms that Casanova's formidable roster of sexual partners included men. But, as his latest biographer tells Guy Dammann, the rake's exploits in the bedroom pale in comparison to his intellectual achievements

Friday June 27, 2008
guardian.co.uk


A lot on his mind ... Ivan Mosjoukine as Casanova in Alexandre Volkoff's 1927 film. Photograph: Kobal
 

The familiar image of Giacomo Casanova as a libertine and sexual adventurer is due to undergo a revision. In a new biography to be published today, Casanova is claimed as a "proud intellectual and polymath" whose legendary sexual prowess was an expression of his commitment to Enlightenment ideals. Hidden aspects of Casanova's life are also uncovered, following the reopening of the Waldstein archives in Prague, including new evidence confirming that the quintessential "ladies' man" also experienced sex with men on a number of different occasions and, in a twist that may be of interest to many of today's A-list celebrities, that he attributed his success with women to the mystical Kabbalah.


The actor and biographer Ian Kelly followed Casanova's trail through archives in Prague, Moscow, St Petersburg, retracing the rake's wanderings between his departure from his native Venice in 1743 and his death in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) in 1798.

Kelly says he wanted to show "Casanova as someone who led pretty much an exemplary 18th-century life. "The century in which he lived witnessed an extraordinary explosion in the activities of self-reflection, self-representation and self-invention," he adds, "and Casanova was right at the centre of this process of exploration and discovery. "We should also not forget that sex was in fact one of the main forms of cultural commerce in the 18th century, but that this was a feature of Enlightenment mores that subsequent and more prudish centuries have suppressed." Kelly also found evidence to confirm that a number of Casanova's sexual encounters had been with men, corroborating two references in Casanova's sensational memoir, The History of My Life. "The modern concept of bisexuality, no less than of homosexuality, didn't really exist in the 18th century," Kelly says, " and the conception of sexual preference was on the whole a much more fluid affair. "It seems likely that Casanova was a man who in sex, as in life, wanted to taste all the flavours on offer. That he didn't dwell on the same-sex experiences in his memoirs may have to do with the fact that he simply didn't enjoy them as much, but it's also true that he was keen to quash rumours afoot in Venice that his rise to prominence was courtesy of his having been the rent boy of his first patron [Meteo Giovanni] Bragadin." The Lothario of popular legend was also thrown out of the seminary in which had trained to become a priest for being discovered in bed with another male student. Casanova's tally of approximately 130 sexual partners hardly compares with the legendary 1,003 of his mythical alter ego, Don Giovanni, or the French detective novelist Georges Simenon's claim of 10,000. But the number and nature of Casanova's sexual encounters, Kelly argues, pale into insignificance when compared with the candid and psychologically nuanced way in which he wrote about it. "The number of people he slept with wasn't that remarkable. Much more remarkable is the way he wrote about it, and how he was one of the first authors to place sexuality in the kind of close connection with personality that now, since Freud, we take for granted." Casanova, who felt his sexual identity to one of the most important parts of his personality, used on a number of occasions the word "soul" to describe, not just his sexual personality, but even his sexual organ. He was also, Kelly argues, a key figure in history of contraception, writing at length bout the psychology of trying to incorporate, or convince one's partner to incorporate, the bulky and cumbersome 18th-century condom into the sexual act." Casanova was at the beginnings of the sea-change in condom use from being a pure prophylactic to the symbol of sexual liberation it is today. He refers to it at times as a 'prophylactic against anxiety'." Kelly is also keen to highlight the possible involvement of Casanova in the representation of his mythical soulmate in Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte's Don Giovanni. Claiming to reveal evidence of Casanova's involvement in the preparation of the opera's libretto, Kelly argues that two drafts of a revised section of the libretto in Casanova's hand and on presentation paper are evidence of an involvement the hasty revisions of the opera prior to its first performance in Prague, 1787. However, this document and the possibility of Casanova's involvement with the libretto has been studied extensively by musicologists who have all concluded the link to be unlikely. Julian Rushton, author of a study of Don Giovanni and emeritus professor of music at Liverpool University, says the purpose of Casanova's redrafting of the libretto was indeed a mystery, but that he knew "of no evidence to suppose that they were made before the opera was composed. The relevant scene was composed earlier in Vienna and if any improvisation took place in Prague it concerned the second finale [and not the passage in question]." But if Casanova's involvement in the final version of Da Ponte's libretto for Don Giovanni is wishful thinking, his own literary output is nonetheless extraordinary. In addition to the vast History of My Life, he wrote a total of 42 books and plays, including a translation of the Iliad, a five-volume science-fiction novel, mathematical treatises and opera libretti. He was also a committed follower of the Kabbalah, the mystical Jewish cult holding a deep fascination for him to the extent that he attributed his life's successes to its power. Kelly's researches in the Prague and other archives, and among the records of the Venetian inquisition, which investigated Casanova, have also uncovered recipe books, evidence of self-prostitution, the development in later life of a sexual interest in young girls, and hitherto undiscussed journals relating the content of his dream life. "Writing for the elderly Casanova," Kelly claims, "was not primarily a way of communicating his thoughts and actions to others. He seems to have been writing, and on the advice of his doctor as a cure for melancholy, for himself, as way of reaffirming himself in the realm of the senses."



27.06.2008: Read an extract from Casanova by Ian Kelly

This is an article forwarded to me by dear friend and colleage Stanley Krippner, announcing the latest book to which he contributed: The Park Avenue Diet, authored by Stuart Fisher, MD, whose publicist also was involved in promoting Hillary Clinton's memoir.

Krippner also discusses the crucial role of self-confidence in attaining and maintaining one's ideal weight.

 

June 19, 2008

 

Tinsley Mortimer Says Being Nice Will Help You Lose Weight ByIrina Aleksander  



Getty Images

“Park Avenue is a state of mind, not a location,” said Dr. Stuart Fischer. The graying founder of the Park Avenue Diet Center, with his small, intense eyes and professional tan, looked the part of socialite-whisperer as he stood in the foyer of a fifth-floor room at Townhouse 2 at 807 Park Avenue Tuesday night, his blue shirt and tie accentuated by the blue-brown zebra striped curtains against the windows, greeting his guests.

 

They had come to celebrate, or to help him publicize, the launch of his book, The Park Avenue Diet.

“I decided to concentrate on people’s overall image as residents of Park Avenue do,” he told the Daily Transom as he stood near a table displaying stacks of the book.

 

Dr. Fischer describes the book as “the total package,” and to write it he recruited lifestyle experts ranging in areas of expertise from make-up and fashion to self-esteem and weight-loss, he said.

 

But the book’s perhaps more noteworthy contributor is socialite Tinsley Mortimer, who gives “interpersonal” advice, according to the book’s jacket.

 

For example, on Week 2, Day 3 of the prescribed diet, readers are given a recipe for a four-bean salad, assigned 12 counts of reverse crunches, are told to pick out their outfit for the following day to avoid a “fashion faux pas” when scrambling for clothes in the morning, and under the heading “Interpersonal Skills,” Ms. Mortimer advises dieters to always arrive at appointments on time. "Being late doesn't just cause you to miss a train, a movie, or a dentist appointment. It also makes you appear rude, careless, and disorganized," the section begins.

 

“Tinsley really surprised me,” said Dr. Fischer. “Her ideas about developing some of these skills even I, who studied psychology at Yale, found to be some of the most profound advice I had ever heard.”

 

And what specifically might this profound advice be?

 

“I just tried to stress that it’s easier to be nice to people than it is to be mean,” said Ms. Mortimer, who in fact arrived later than the other contributors, wearing a grey and pink binding Herve Leger dress. (She was headed to the Whitney Art Party afterwards, sponsored by the label.)

 

Ms. Mortimer was accompanied by her husband, Topper, who has mused publicly about the usefulness of attending Events; he seemed almost relieved when Ms. Mortimer asked him to go fetch a few bags that were apparently downstairs.

 

“Sorry, my husband,” she said giving a knowing, slight roll of the eyes and focusing her attention back to the reporter.

 

“Smiling, saying 'thank you,' being respectful and just having an overall positive energy is good for you,” Ms. Mortimer continued. “I think growing up in the South, being more open and inclusive rather than exclusive, helped me make friends when I came to New York.”

 

We asked Ms. Mortimer what she thinks a “Park Avenue” makeover means exactly.

“Someone on Park Avenue is someone who pays attention to their maintenance, their make-up, and their fashion sense along with diet and exercise,” Ms. Mortimer said.

 

Dr. Fischer was quite candid in his reflections on the meaning (or value?) of the book's title.

“People on Park Avenue are very put together," he said. "Just walking here tonight, I noticed that there are very few overweight people on Park Avenue.”

 

That's OK; plenty of overweight people want to live on Park Avenue.

 

 

 

 

I.                    Phoenix Rawfood resources

a.       Tree of Life (Patagonia, AZ). 50 miles south of Tucson, it is a raw food rejuvenation center, directed by Gabriel Cousens, M.D.; rawfood instruction classes, patients welcome to get a full nutritional workup to determine optimal nutritional combinations.

b.      Rawfood buying club co-op. Bi-weekly supplies of organic raw fruits and vegetables at wholesale prices. You pick up a large tub of fruits and vegetables. 602.550.0330 ask for Todd

c.       Farmer’s Market – Scottsdale and 5th Avenue in Scottsdale, AZ; Saturdays 10-noon

d.      Mandala Tea Room. Fresh organic imported teas, vegan/raw cuisine, sometimes has raw nights.

e.       Green Restaurant.

f.        Ranch 99 – Thai Coconuts, ask for Kwan to pick out the coconuts with the most meat. You can pick up a box of 9 coconuts for $10.99 each.

g.       RawspiritFest.com – annual gathering of rawfoodists in Sedona, held during September.

h.       Rawhatukee Rawfood Potluck, 2nd Saturday of every month in Phoenix, near 44th Street and Elliot

i.         Mesa Rawfood Potluck; 3rd Saturday of every month in Mesa, AZ, near Dobson and Baseline.

j.        ARE Edgar Cayce “The Sleeping Prophet’ clinic, natural therapies, colon hydrotherapy, etc. 602.955.0551

II.                 Other Restaurants

a.       Pure food and Wine, New York, NY

b.      Giuliano’s, Los Angeles, CA.

c.       Café Gratitude, San Francisco, CA. Phenomenal fun funky place.

d.      Go Raw, Las Vegas, NV – great tasting food, delivers to the strip.

III.               Nutritional Sources

a.       Superfood – green powder that mixed with juice is a great organic daily supplement; my friend Bernando Lapallo who is 106 lucid, healthy, and strong as an ox drinks this every day for 30 years.

b.      Nature’s First Law. David Wolfe’s website premier supplier of organic raw foods.

c.       Kava Kava supplier. Strong fresh organic extremely potent kava kava, which makes your mouth numb when you drink it (so you know it works). Very relaxing, legal substance. You must order strainer or blend kava kava in high speed blender to ensure its potency is released.  www.kickbackwithkava.com