Michele Stratico

Giuseppe Michele Stratico (31 July 1728 – 31 January 1783) was a Venetian composer and violinist of Greek descent. Biography Stratico was born in Zara, Republic of Venice (today Zadar in Croatia). His father, the Cretan Greek Giuseppe Battista Stratico de Candia or Stratikos (ca. 1690-28 November 1770 ), left Crete shortly before 1718. The island of Crete was declared a province of the Ottoman Empire in 1646 after the occupation of the western part of the Ottomans during the Great Cretan War. The Venetians maintained control of the capital until 1669, when Francesco Morosini surrendered the keys of the city of Heraklion to the Ottomans. The fortresses of Souda, Gramvousa and Spinalonga, located on small islands near Crete, remained under Venetian control until 1715, when they also fell under Ottoman control. After spending a few years in Bari, Giovanni Battista found shelter in Zara in 1720 or 1721, where he married in 1725 Maria Castelli di Chio (ca. 1700 – 18 April 1796 ). Her brother, Ivan Antun II Castelli (1706–78), was bishop of Kotor (1744). On 5 November 1725 Giuseppe Battista confirmed his nobility from Crete at the civic municipality of the town Nin. Four of their twelve