Unsuccess Stories

We've all heard that Einstein failed at math, Beethoven was deaf, Oppenheimer nearly got kicked out of university for trying to poison someone...

[Actually though, Einstein apparently got top marks in math and science all through his life; Beethoven didn't lose his hearing until midway through his career; Oppenheimer...well...he's also known as the Father of the Atomic Bomb, so what do you expect?]

One thing that is true, however, regarding famous celebrities failure in their areas of success, is that, as a young man, Casanova was unlucky in love.

When he was 24, the man whose name would become synonymous with seduction met a woman from Parma whom he called in his autobiography Henriette.  This beautiful, cultured, and brilliant woman deeply attracted Casanova; according to a widely-quoted passage, "They who believe that a woman is incapable of making a man equally happy all the twenty-four hours of the day have never known an Henriette."  For three months, the two dazzled each other with witty conversation and so on (...) but, alas for Mr C., three months was sufficient for Henriette to get his measure.  In fact - Scholar J Rives Childs notes - she "penetrated his outward shell early in their relationship...came to discern his volatile nature, his lack of social background, and the precariousness of his finances" and beat a hasty retreat back to her family home.  Hmmm...now I don't think either Lothario or Don Juan would admit to as much, but then, they were mere fictional characters, and I don't believe either were truly in love.

Not totally heartless, Henriette left Casanova five hundred louis as a parting gift.  Still, he was apparently quite shook up about it, and moped about for quite some time (in jail...), until picking up on his notably successful career as a professional lover/rake/womanizer...indeed, a regular Casanova.