di Pagana

The da Pagana were a Genoese mercantile family named after San Michele di Pagana, a village of Rapallo on the Levante Riviera. They belonged to the Ghibelline, popular faction of the Republic of Genoa. The best-documented member was Federico da Pagana, born in Genoa in 1315, whose father Nicolò had helped fortify the Genoese colony of Caffa in Crimea.

A merchant turned statesman, Federico was among the electors of the first doge Simone Boccanegra in 1339 and served as ambassador to Italian courts and the Emperor Charles IV.

On 7 April 1383 he was acclaimed doge after Nicolò Guarco was driven from office, but Leonardo Montaldo had the election annulled the same day and took his place, making Federico the shortest-reigned doge in Genoese history. He returned to trade and died in Genoa in 1406.