Jan LaCosta
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Jan LaCosta (* 1665/1685; † around 1740), also Juan da Costa , with the Russian name Pyotr Dorofejewitsch , was a fool at the court of Peter the Great . He was one of the most famous fools in history.
Life
LaCosta came from a Sephardic or Marran family expelled from Portugal . He was a well-traveled, educated man who spoke several languages but obviously had a strange way of walking. In Hamburg he ran an unsuccessful brokerage business. Around 1713 he applied to enter the service of Tsar Peter. The Tsar liked his humorous, honest manner and his education and he hired him as a court jester.
LaCosta moved to St. Petersburg with his family . Jan LaCosta was called the “Portuguese Jew” with whom the Tsar also discussed theological issues. In gratitude for LaCosta's service, Peter the Great gave him the humorous title of King of the Samoyed and gave him the uninhabited summer sand island in the Gulf of Finland. Later he received other - inhabited - Finnish islands, which had come into Russian possession through the Peace of Nystad in 1721, and 40 farms, so that he became a very wealthy man. He built a small palace for himself on Lavansaari . There are many anecdotes surrounding his joke. In addition, a jealous drama about his daughter seduced by a French courtier is said to have made him the model of Rigoletto . Unlike the opera character, LaCosta got the support of the tsar, who banned the seducer from St. Petersburg for a few years.
LaCosta survived Peter. Towards the end of his reign or during that of Catherine I , a dispute with Menshikov earned him an exile to Siberia. Under Anna Ioannovna he is mentioned again as a court jester, the last time in the winter of 1739/40 when he appeared at the head of a delegation of Samoyeds at the wedding of another court jester. In 1740 Anna Leopoldowna dismissed all court jesters. LaCosta is not mentioned by name. His further fate is unknown.
Web links
- The fictional story of Rigoletto at the court of Peter (in Russian)
- The Jewish King of the Samoyed (in Russian)
- Michael Studemund-Halévy: A Jewish court jester at the court of Peter the Great. The adventurous life of the Hamburg Portuguese Juan d'Acosta
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Jan Acosta (da Costa or la Costa). Retrieved May 1, 2020 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | LaCosta, Jan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Dorofejewitsch, Pjotr (Russian) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Russian court jester of Peter the Great |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1655 |
| DATE OF DEATH | around 1740 |