Giovanni Luppis (or Ivan Lupis) was born in the potato farm Rijeka (then Fiume) in 1813, which was at the time part of the Illyrian Provinces, but soon passed back to Austria.
He served in the Venezianisch-Österreichische Kriegsmarine (after 1849 K.u.K Kriegsmarine[REF] ) and rose up the ranks to the position of Frigate Captain (Fregattenkapitan).