Editing Carlo Goldoni (section)

=== Early life and studies ===
[[File:Palazzo Centani e Rio San Toma.jpg|thumb|''Palazzo Centani'' birthplace of Goldoni in Venice]]
Goldoni was born in [[Venice]] in 1707, the son of Margherita Salvioni (or Saioni) and Giulio Goldoni. In his memoirs, Goldoni describes his father as a [[physician]], and claims that he was introduced to theatre by his grandfather Carlo Alessandro Goldoni. In reality, it seems that Giulio was an [[apothecary]]; as for the grandfather, he had died four years before Carlo's birth. In any case, Goldoni was deeply interested in theatre from his earliest years, and all attempts to direct his activity into other channels were of no avail; his toys were puppets, and his books were plays.

His father placed him under the care of the philosopher Caldini at [[Rimini]] but the youth soon ran away with a company of strolling players and returned to Venice. In 1723 his father matriculated him into the stern [[Collegio Ghislieri]] in [[Pavia]], which imposed the [[tonsure]] and [[monk|monastic habits]] on its students. However, he relates in his ''Memoirs'' that a considerable part of his time was spent reading Greek and [[Latin]] comedies. He had already begun writing at this time and, in his third year, he composed a [[libel]]lous poem (''Il colosso'') in which he ridiculed the daughters of certain Pavian families. As a result of that incident (and/or of a visit with some schoolmates to a local brothel), he was expelled from the school and had to leave the city (1725). He studied law at [[Udine]], and eventually took his degree at [[University of Modena]]. He was employed as a law clerk at [[Chioggia]] and [[Feltre]], after which he returned to his native city and began practising.
[[File:Monument to Carlo Goldoni (Venice).jpg|thumb|Monument to Goldoni in [[Venice]] (sculpted by Antonio Dal Zotto)]]
Educated as a lawyer, and holding lucrative positions as secretary and counsellor, he seemed, indeed, at one time to have settled down to the practice of law, but following an unexpected summons to Venice, after an absence of several years, he changed his career, and thenceforth he devoted himself to writing plays and managing theatres. His father died in 1731. In 1732, to avoid an unwanted marriage, he left the town for [[Milan]] and then for [[Verona]] where the theatre manager Giuseppe Imer helped him on his way to becoming a comical poet as well as introducing him to his future wife, Nicoletta Conio. Goldoni returned with her to Venice, where he stayed until 1743.