Paolo Paruta

After studying at Padua he served the Republic of Venice in various political capacities, including that of secretary to one of the Venetian delegates at the Council of Ten.

In 1562 he accompanied the ambassador Michele Suriano to the Court of Emperor Maximilian II and acted as official historiographer of the Republic; during which office he delivered the funeral oration for those killed at the naval battle of Lepanto (1571).

His chief works are the Guerra di Cipro ("War of Cyprus") and the Storia Veneziana, a continuation of Bembo's history, embracing the years 1513 to 1551, which was at first written in Latin and subsequently in Italian, published until posthumously in 1599.

Both works were composed at the request of the Government, but written with truth and impartiality, showing especially the connection between the current events of Venice and the general history of Europe.

Of his political writings, the Della perfezione della vita politica in dialogue form, written between 1572 and 1579, of somewhat didactic and academic tone, treats principally of the superiority of the active and contemplative life, a problem he decides in favour of the active life on account of its contributing more to the welfare of the Republic.