He was the second son of
Francesco II Gattilusio and Valentina
Doria. Dorino succeeded his older brother
Jacopo Gattilusio in 1428. Prior to that he had been governor of
Phocaea for several years, at least as early as 1423-4. Soon after he assumed control of Lesbos, he informed
Genoa that he wished to be part of their 1428 treaty with
Alfonso V of Aragon. This led to his participation in the Genoese war with
Venice over the next few years. Around 1438, apparently through the efforts of the Byzantine Empress
Maria, Dorino's daughter Maria was married to
Alexander of Trebizond, the exiled
despotes of
Trebziond, thus pulling Dorino into the politics of that Pontic state. According to
Pero Tafur who met the exile at
Mytilene on his homeward journey, Alexander "was preparing ships to set out for Trebizond against his brother." Tafur shared with him the news to Alexander that John had concluded an alliance with "the Turk", which had been sealed with John's marriage to "a daughter of a Turk", and that it would be detrimental to all to make war. Genoese archives contain a copy of a letter written on 10 March 1438 to Dorino Gattilusio, in which they urge him to do what he could to bring peace between Alexander and his brother, and containing an offer of a pension to Alexander if he dropped his plans which would allow him to live where ever he wanted to, Mytilene, or Constantinople. The Republic of Genoa had business interests in Trebizond that might be harmed in a civil war between the brothers. During his tenure as lord of Lesbos, the castle of Kokkinos on
Lemnos and the island of
Thasos came under his control. However, Dorino was bed-ridden from 1449 onwards and his son
Domenico handled the business of his realm in his name. Following the
Fall of Constantinople, Ottoman hegemony in the Aegean increased unchecked. When the Turkish admiral
Hamza anchored off Lesbos in June 1455, on his way to Rhodes, his son Domenico thought it a wise diplomatic move to send his factor, the historian
Doukas, to the dignitary with handsome gifts of "garments of silk, 8 woven wool garments, 6,000 minted silver coins, 20 oxen, 50 sheep, more than 800 measures of wine, 2 measures of biscuits, one measure of bread, more than 1000 litres of cheese, and fruit without measure", as well as gifts to the members of the admiral's staff. Dorino died not long after this visit. == Family ==