Giovanni I di Murta

Giovanni di Murta was elected the second doge of the Republic of Genoa after the resignation of Simone Boccanegra, on December 25, 1345. His dogate was dominated by his attempts to break the circle of political violence which had crippled the city over the past century and to reassert the Genoese domination over the Mediterranean colonies.

While his date of birth remains unknown, it is assumed that he was born in the early years of the 14th century in the village of Murta in the Val Polcevera, today one of the boroughs of the city of Genoa from an affluent commoner family, however his mother was from the powerful Usodimare patrician family.

Source: Wikipedia