Gemelli Careri

Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri (1651-1725) was a seventeenth century Italian adventurer and traveler. He was among the first Europeans to tour the world using public transportation; his travels may have inspired "Around the World in Eighty Days." Some suspected him of spying for the Vatican on his journey.

Biographic Information

Gemelli Careri was born in Taurianova, 1651, and died in Naples, 1725. He obtained a doctorate in law at the College of Jesuits in Naples. After completing his studies he briefly entered the Judiciary. In 1685 he took time off to travel around Europe (France, Spain, Germany, and Hungary). In Hungary he was wounded when an army of Turks besieged Buda.

In 1687 he returned to Naples and re-entered the Judiciary. He also began work on his first two books: "Relazione delle Campagne d'Ungheria" (1689) with co-author Matteo Egizio, and "Viaggi in Europa" (1693). At this time Gemelli encountered frustrations with his legal profession. He was denied certain opportunities because he did not have an established aristocratic origin. Eventually, he decided to suspend his career for a round-the-world trip. This five year trip would lead to his best known six volume book: "Giro Intorno al Mondo" (1699). [Source Article: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Francesco_Gemelli_Careri] [Angela Amuso Maccarrone, "Gianfrancesco Gemelli-Careri. L'Ulisse del XVII secolo", 2000]

World Voyage

Gemelli Careri started his world trip in 1693, with a visit to Egypt, Constantinople, and the Holy Land. At the time, this Middle Eastern route was already becoming a standard ingredient of any excursion into foreign lands, a hike that was almost not worth writing home about. However, from there the Italian 'tourist' would take less traveled paths. After crossing Persia and Armenia, he visited Southern India and entered China, where the Jesuit missionaries assumed that such an unusual Italian visitor could be a spy working for the pope. This fortuitous misunderstanding opened for Gemelli many of the most tightly closed doors of the country. He got to visit the emperor at Beijing, attended the Lantern Festival celebrations and toured the Great Wall.

From Macau, Gemelli Careri sailed to the Philippines, where he stayed two months while waiting for the departure of the Manila galleon. As Gemelli described it in his journal, the half-year-long transoceanic trip to Acapulco was a nightmare plagued with bad food, epidemic outbursts, and the occasional storm. In Mexico, the Italian traveler became a celebrity by the simple expedient of telling his anecdotes over and over to the local aristocrats. His insatiable curiosity would take him beyond the capital, visiting several mine towns and the ancient ruins of Teotihuacan. After five years of wandering around the world, Gemelli was finally on his way back to Europe when he joined the treasure fleet in Cuba. [Source Article: Denis, Adrian L. "Early Cities of the Americas, Treasure City: Havana", University of California, 2003]

Publications

*"Relazione delle Campagne d'Ungheria" (1689)
*"Viaggi in Europa" (1693)
*"Giro Intorno al Mondo" (1699)
**"Voyage du Tour du Monde" (1719, Paris: French Translation)

External links

* [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/cp/vol-03/no-04/havana/ www.common-place.org]
* [http://www.metaweb.com/wiki/wiki.phtml?title=Gemelli_Careri Baroque Cycle related website]
* [http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=K1AGAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22voyage+du+tour+du+monde%22+careri&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=Q88AEVGZ3U&sig=XtVUI6sX5XLUzx8sst5vEUaPZFk#PPP2,M1 "Voyage du Tour du Monde" (French Translation)]

References