Born 1749 at Aversa, in the Kingdom of Naples; died in Venice,
1801.
The son of a poor mason, he was but seven years of age when his father
was killed by a fall from a scaffold. In her distress the boy’s mother
applied to a charitable monk for help. This good man gave Cimarosa
a few Latin lessons, and was so struck by the child’s intelligence
that he decided to adopt him. This monk was organist of the convent,
and taught his pupil music. Discovering the boy’s extraordinary
aptitude for musical composition, he obtained his admission into the
Conservatory at Santa Maria di Loretto.
At the age of twenty-four Cimarosa produced his first opera at Naples.
His next ten years were a succession of triumphs, and he produced
innumerable operas and other musical compositions. In 1787 the Empress
Catherine offered him the title of Imperial Composer, with a high
salary. He journeyed to Russia, was treated with great distinction, and
many operas written by him in Russia were performed during his five
years’ stay in that country. He returned to Naples in 1793.
In 1799 he joined the Revolutionary party in Italy, was thrown into
prison, and but for the intercession of the Russian Ambassador would
have been executed. Upon his release he took refuge at Venice, where he
died.
He composed over a hundred operas, many of which still hold the stage.
CLOOTZ (surnamed ANACHARSIS), JEAN BAPTISTE, BARON DE.
Born in Cleves in Germany, 1755; guillotined in Paris, 1794.
He was educated in Paris, possessed considerable natural intelligence,
but was led astray by the violent excitability of his nature. He had
confused dreams of social regeneration, and declared that his life was
to be devoted to the reformation of the world.
He inherited a vast fortune, renounced his title of baron, taking
the romantic name of Anacharsis, travelled over Germany, Italy and
England, preaching his extraordinary doctrines, and spending money with
unbridled extravagance.
The French Revolution filled him with delirious joy; it appeared to
realise all his mad projects. On June 19, 1790, he presented himself
at the bar of the Assembly to read an address in which he requested
that all strangers residing in Paris might be admitted to the Grand
Federation which was to take place on July 14 of the same year. He
called himself “the Ambassador of Humanity” to France, and gave large
sums to the “nation” for the fitting out of a regiment “to fight in the
holy war against tyranny.”
The events of August 10 seem to have shaken Clootz’s reason. Not
content with attacking all the kings and princes of the earth, he
delivered a violent tirade against the Almighty, declaring himself
the personal enemy of God. He publicly abjured all religion. He
complimented the Convention upon their victories near the Rhine,
and requested the members to put prices upon the heads of the Duke
of Brunswick and the King of Prussia. A decree of August 20, 1792,
having granted him the title of citizen, he repaired to the Bar of the
Assembly and delivered a long speech of thanks, and in the praise of
regicide. After he became a member of the Convention he wearied his
co-Deputies by long rambling speeches. He voted for the death of the
King “in the name of the whole generation of mankind,” adding, “he
personally condemned Frederick William of Prussia to death.”
Robespierre was his secret enemy, and by his (Robespierre’s) influence
Clootz was excluded from the club of the Jacobins and arrested, the
only accusation against him being that he was rich and of noble
birth. Clootz was condemned to death with his supposed accomplices.
He received his sentence with calmness, and passed his remaining
hours preaching materialism to his fellow victims. At the scaffold
he requested permission to suffer last, as he wished to make some
observations while watching the heads of his companions fall.
He wrote several books, as strange in their contents as was his own
character.