Carlo Aurelio Widmann (

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, 6 November 1750 –

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

, 3 January 1798) was a Venetian patrician, naval officer, and the last of the Venetian overseas empire, from 1794 to the

Fall of the Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice was dissolved and dismembered by the French general Napoleon Bonaparte and the Habsburg monarchy on 12 May 1797, ending approximately 1,100 years of its existence. It was the final action of Napoleon's Italian campaign ...

in 1797.

Life

Carlo Aurelio Widmann was born on 6 November 1650 at the parish of San Canciano in

. His father was Zuane Widmann and his mother was Quintilia Rezzonico, and he had an older brother and two younger ones. The were a wealthy merchant family that had been inscribed into the

Venetian patriciate Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetians might refer to: * Masters of Venetian painting in 15th-16th centuries ...

in 1646, but its members had not yet risen to the highest offices of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

. In 1758, however, Carlo Aurelio's maternal uncle became

Pope Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII (; ; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. He was installed on 16 July 1758. ...

, abruptly catapulting the family to power and influence. Carlo Aurelio's career was the typical ''

cursus honorum The , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices'; ) was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The comprised a mixture of ...

'' for a Venetian patrician, with naval postings alternating with administrative positions in Venice. He began his naval career as a (gentleman cadet) in 1768, becoming captain of a ship of the line () in 1771 and rear admiral () in the next year, and finally admiral () in 1783. He also served as superintendent () of the

Venetian Arsenal The Venetian Arsenal () is a complex of former shipyards and Armory (military), armories clustered together in the city of Venice in northern Italy. Owned by the state, the Arsenal was responsible for the bulk of the Republic of Venice, Venetian ...

in 1791, and as inquisitor of the same two years later. In between, he held the civilian posts of superintendent of the banks () in 1775, superintendent on luxury () in 1783, in 1786, and a membership in the board of the in 1792. The climax of his career was his appointment to the highest joint civil and military office of in 1794. The citizens of

, who had suffered under the financial exactions of his predecessor, welcomed him with enormous enthusiasm. Nevertheless, the situation on the

Venetian Ionian Islands The Ionian Islands were an overseas possession of the Republic of Venice from the mid-14th century until the late 18th century. The conquest of the islands took place gradually. The first to be acquired was Cythera and the neighboring islet o ...

was so dismal that Widmann not only had to expend his own treasure to cover the needs of the administration, but had to petition the citizenry for funds as well, to which they responded with considerable generosity. He held the post until the

in 1797, and the French occupation of the

Ionian Islands The Ionian Islands (Modern Greek: , ; Ancient Greek, Katharevousa: , ) are a archipelago, group of islands in the Ionian Sea, west of mainland Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese ("Seven Islands"; , ''Heptanēsa'' or , ''Heptanē ...

in July of that year.

Works by Widmann

* ''Trattato sulla mattadura della navi''. * ''La fortificazione universale tanto terrestre che marittima'', 1768. * ''La nave ben manovrata, ossia, Trattato di manovra'', 1773. Republished in 1995, edited by Alvise Chiggiato * ''Nuova teoria dell'arboratura delle navi''. * ''In Nome della Sovranità del Popolo: la Municipalità provvisoria di Venezia: Data 12. Fruttifero (29. Agosto 1797)'', Pinelli, Zatta, e Pasquali, Stampatori del Governo, Venice, 1797. * ''Discorso apologetico scritto dal nobil uomo s. co. Carlo Aurelio Widmann provveditore generale da mar nell'isole del Veneto levante con l'aggiunta di alcune illustrazioni e documenti relativi'', Venice, 1799.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Widmann, Carlo Aurelio 1750 births 1798 deaths 18th-century Venetian people Republic of Venice admirals Provveditori Generali da Mar 18th-century Venetian writers Republic of Venice politicians French rule in the Ionian Islands (1797–1799)