Giovanni Marsili
| Giovanni Marsili FRS | |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 June 1727 Pontebba, Republic of Venice |
| 💀Died | 9 May 1795 (aged 67) Padua, Republic of Venice9 May 1795 (aged 67) |
| 🎓 Alma mater | University of Padua |
| 💼 Occupation | |
Giovanni Marsili FRS (4 June 1727 – 9 May 1795) was an Italian botanist. He was professor of botany at Padua, and director of the botanical garden there.
Biography
Born into a well-to-do family of Pontebba in 1727, Giovanni Marsili enjoyed educational opportunities that were beyond the reach of most of his contemporaries. He graduated in philosophy and medicine from the University of Padua in 1747. After graduating, he moved first to Bologna and then to Florence to further his classical studies under the renowned physician and scholar Antonio Cocchi. He then moved to Paris and London where, in 1758, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society.[1]
His main interests were medical science and botany, and to extend his knowledge in these fields he visited a number of botanical gardens and universities throughout Europe. On the grounds of this great knowledge, in 1760 he was appointed professor of botany and prefect of the Padua Botanical Garden, even though he had never published a single work on botany or medical botany.
The Riformatori dello Studio seem to have preferred him to the acting custodian Pietro Arduino, who had already published interesting scientific works. And with the advent of Marsili, the Botanical Garden was once more run as it had been in the pre-Pontedera period with the emphasis being less on pure botany than on the medical application of plants.
Nevertheless, Marsili was the first scientist in Padua to take a serious interest in cryptogams. Although his contributions to science may be considered modest Marsili should definitely be given credit for having improved the Garden's plant collection and overall state. As was customary at the time, Marsili kept up a correspondence with a number of other botanists, including Lazzaro Spallanzani, Giovanni Antonio Scopoli and Philip Miller.[1] His pupil Giovanni Battista Guatteri became professor of botany and prefetto of the Botanical Garden in Parma.
In September 1793, the Riformatori appointed Giuseppe Antonio Bonato as Marsili's temporary substitute. Then on 27 August 1794, Marsili was pensioned off and Bonato was raised to the chair of botany and to the position of prefetto of the Botanical Garden. Marsili died a year later, on 9 May 1795. On 31 May of the same year, a stone bust of Marsili was placed alongside that of Antonio Saraceno (a distinguished interpreter of Dioscorides' works) on the balustrade round the Padua Hortus cinctus between the cast and south gates.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ongaro 2008.
Bibliography
- Ongaro, Giuseppe (2008). "MARSILI, Giovanni". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 70: Marcora–Marsilio (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
- Screm, Egidio (2009). "Marsili, Giovanni". In C. Scalon; C. Griggio; U. Rozzo. Dizionario Biografico dei Friulani. II: Età veneta. Udine: Forum Edizioni. ISBN 978-88-8420-545-2. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
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