Jacopo Guzman was a Spanish smuggler who served as the valet of Edmond Dantès, the self-styled "Count of Monte Cristo", during the early 19th century.
Biography[]
Jacopo Guzman was born in Spain, and he became a member of Luigi Vampa's crew of smugglers in the Mediterranean during the 1820s. In 1828, Vampa ordered Guzman to be buried alive on an island in the Frioul archipelago off Marseille after the latter attempted to secretly keep some stolen treasure rather than share it with his crewmates. Several crewmembers opposed Guzman being put to death, so Vampa had the escaped prisoner Edmond Dantès - who had washed ashore after escaping the Chateau d'If - agree to fight Jacopo to the death; if Dantès won, he could decide Jacopo's fate and serve in Vampa's crew. While Jacopo was renowned as Vampa's best knife-fighter, Dantès, who had been trained in swordsmanship by Abbe Faria, easily defeated Jacopo and spared his life. Jacopo swore on the lives of his dead and sickly family members that he would repay his debt to Dantès by serving him for life, and Jacopo followed Dantès - whom he and the other smugglers called Zatarra ("driftwood") - after he left Vampa's service in 1831. Jacopo helped Dantès discover Count Enrique Spada's hidden treasure on Montecristo and use it to reinvent himself as the "Count of Monte Cristo", with Jacopo becoming his fashionable valet and helping him procure a chateau near Paris. As Dantès planned to use his wealth to take revenge on the men responsible for his 13 years of unjust imprisonment, Jacopo became a voice of reason, arranging his reconciliation with Mercédès Iguanada and attempting to persuade Dantès to take the girl and run off with his wealth. However, he helped save Dantès' life during his final confrontation with his rival Fernand Mondego, throwing a knife at Mondego's hand before he could shoot Dantès. Jacopo remained in Dantès' service after he started a new life with Iguanada and his son Albert.
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