Tommaso Condulmer (20 August 1759 – 7 January 1823) was a

Venetian 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 Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...

naval officer and nobleman. After the death of

Angelo Emo Angelo Emo (3 January 1731 – 1 March 1792) was a Venetian noble and admiral, mostly known for being the last admiral of the Republic of Venice to lead the Venetian navy to battle. Distinguished for his seamanship since early in his career, he ...

he took command of the Venetian navy, and held major responsibilities in the aborted defense of Venice against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's forces which eventually led to the fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797.

Biography

Tommaso Condulmer was born in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

on 20 AUgust 1759 to the patrician Condulmer family. His father was Domenico Condulmer, and his mother Elisabetta Soranzo. He enrolled in the Venetian navy at a very young age, and rose rapidly through the ranks to become commander of his own ship () by 1784, when he participated in

's expeditionary fleet against the

Beylik of Tunis The Beylik of Tunis (), also known as Kingdom of Tunis ( ar, المملكة التونسية) was a largely autonomous beylik of the Ottoman Empire located in present-day Tunisia. It was ruled by the Husainid dynasty from 1705 until the abolit ...

. In late 1786, Condulmer was elected (rear admiral) and replaced Emo on station off the Tunisian coast with a small squadron, while the main fleet returned to

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

. Raising his flag on the great frigate '' Sirena'', Condulmer patrolled the Tunisian waters for the next few years until the death of Emo and the conclusion of peace in 1792. When Emo died at Malta in 1792, Condulmer, now (vice admiral) took over command of the Venetian sailing fleet, being awarded the

Order of the Golden Stole The Order of the Golden Stole or Stola d'Oro was an adjunct order of the Order of Saint Mark, in the Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditio ...

as well. In 1796, as Venice was facing a French invasion led by

, Condulmer was appointed second-in-command to the , charged with defending the Venetian Lagoon; the latter post was initially held by the former admiral

Giacomo Nani Giacomo Nani (1698 in Porto Ercole – 1755 in Naples) was an Italian painter, mainly of still-life paintings and of porcelain. Biography According to De Dominici, he was a pupil of Andrea Belvedere and Gaspare Lopez. In marriage documents fro ...

, who energetically organized the naval defences. But when he died, his successor, the senator Giovanni Zusto, was far less decisive, and Condulmer was outright defeatist, disparaging any attempt to defend against the French as pointless, thus decisively contributing to the Fall of the Republic of Venice. Faced with accusations of treason, Condulmer was forced to compose an exculpatory work in his defence (''Il cittadino Tommaso Condulmer agli amatori della verita'') but otherwise remained aloof from politics, living retired at

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

. In 1805, Napoleon, now

King of Italy King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader, ...

, appointed him a gentleman-attendant to

Princess Augusta of Bavaria french: Auguste Amélie Louise Georgie , spouse = , issue = Joséphine, Queen of Sweden and Norway Eugénie, Princess of Hohenzollern-Hechingen Auguste, 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg Amélie, Empress of Brazil Théodoline, Countess Wilhelm of Wü ...

, and created him a count,

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, and a knight in the

Order of the Iron Crown The Order of the Iron Crown ( it, link=no, Ordine della Corona Ferrea) was an order of merit that was established on 5 June 1805 in the Kingdom of Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte under his title of Napoleon I, King of Italy. The order took its name ...

. He died in Venice on 7 January 1823.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Condulmier, Tommaso 1759 births Republic of Venice admirals 18th-century Venetian people People of the Barbary Wars 1823 deaths People involved in anti-piracy efforts Fall of the Republic of Venice Counts