Born in Milan to a family of noble origin. Enrolling in the army, he was captured by the Prussians during the Seven Year War and transferred to Germany, where he remained until 1763. He devoted the years spent in Germany to study of the important reforms implemented by Frederick II of Prussia. Returning to Milan, he joined the group of the followers of the Enlightenment in Lombardy and embraced the political and economic ideals - physiocracy, enlightened despotism and subsequently constitutionalism - that were taking hold in Europe at the end of the 18th century. This way of thinking is clearly discernible in Gorani's most important work: Mémoires secrets et critiques des cours, des gouvernements, et des moeurs des principaux états de l'Italie. Par Jean Gorani, citoyen français (Buisson, Paris 1793). The ideals spread with the French Revolution induced him to move to Paris, where he was granted French citizenship in 1793. But ensuing events and the beginning of the reign of Terror drove Gorani to leave France for Geneva, where he lived until his death. During the last years of his life he wrote his memoirs, published posthumously and entitled Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de ma vie.