[2] A polyglot born in Dalmatia, Graziani had been in the service of several European powers: he was an interpreter for the English diplomatic mission in the Ottoman Empire, and then an envoy of both the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo II and the Spanish Viceroy of Naples to the Porte, negotiating the release of Christian sailors captured by Barbary pirates.

These activities, along with bribery and promises of absolute loyalty to the Porte, gathered Graziani the support he needed in his bid for the Moldavian throne.

In order to qualify for the customary requirements, he quickly converted from Roman Catholicism to Eastern Orthodoxy and accepted the sacraments.

He organized an armed guard of 500 for his personal defence, and defied the Ottomans by starting negotiations for an alliance with Poland's King Sigismund III Vasa.

He managed to contribute with a minuscule number of his troops to hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski's effort and was present at the Battle of Cecora, but, as he was making his way to refuge in Poland, he was murdered in the village of Braniște (nowadays in Rîșcani, Republic of Moldova) by two of his boyars, Șeptilici and Goia, who were fearful of Ottoman reprisals.