Background
The son of Giovanni Memmo and Bianca Sanudo, he was born into a family of average wealth.
The son of Giovanni Memmo and Bianca Sanudo, he was born into a family of average wealth.
As a prominent Venetian, he traversed the Venetian cursus honorum, becoming in turn, provveditore, podestà, and procurator of San Marco. Memmo used the years of Donato"s reign to maneuver behind the scenes, swinging into high gear following Donato"s death on December 25, 1612. When the election was held on July 24, 1612, Memmo was elected on the first ballot, with 38 of the 41 votes, a shock to the nuove faction that had dominated the position of Doge for centuries.
Great festivals were organized to celebrate Memmo"s victory, and, like previous Doges, he would use the celebrations that attended great holidays as a way to curry favor with the population of Venice.
Little of note happened in Memmo"s reign as Doge, except for an incursion of Uskoci pirates in 1613. He died on October 31, 1615.
He was set to become doge in 1606, but was not helped by the fact that the Memmo were one of the "vecchie" ("old"), Venetian noble families and every doge from 1382 on had been a member of one of the "nuove" ("new") Venetian noble families.
