Umberto D’Ancona (9 May 1896 – 24 August 1964) was an Italian

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

. He attended secondary school in

Fiume Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

and later enrolled as a student in the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Budapest. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he interrupted his studies to fight as artillery officer, and became wounded and was decorated for military valor. From 1916 to 1920 he studied at the University of Rome under supervision of Giulio Cotronei. He graduated on a thesis on the effect of starvation on the digestive tract of the

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

. He was assistant to Giovanni Batista Grassi and later succeeded Grassi as director of the Comparative Anatomy Institute of the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

. He later moved to the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...

where he founded the hydrobiological station in

Chioggia Chioggia (; vec, Cióxa , locally ; la, Clodia) is a coastal town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Venice in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Geography The town is situated on a small island at the southern entrance to the L ...

that now bears his name. He was a member of the Accademia dei Lincei and a corresponding member of the French Academy of Sciences. His work covered marine biology and his interests ranged from physiology to hydrobiology, oceanography and evolutionary theory. He described numerous species, published over 300 papers and authored several books, among them ''Trattato di Zoologia'' (1953) and ''Elementi di Biologia Generale'' (1945). He studied the effect of reduced fishing effort on the fish stocks in the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

during

when fisheries were much reduced. In 1926 he married Luisa Volterra, daughter of the mathematician

Vito Volterra Vito Volterra (, ; 3 May 1860 – 11 October 1940) was an Italian mathematician and physicist, known for his contributions to mathematical biology and integral equations, being one of the founders of functional analysis. Biography Born in An ...

. D'Ancona's work and discussions with Volterra on the effect of reduced fishing on fish stocks inspired Volterra's work on mathematical biology and led to the formulation of the Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model. After Volterra's death d'Ancona published his book ''La Lotta per l'Esistenza'' (1942) (translated into English as ''The Struggle for Existence'' (1954)), which was inspired and motivated by the work of his father-in-law. The publication of this book in homage to Volterra in 1942 in fascist-controlled Italy is noteworthy as Volterra had refused to sign the oath of allegiance to the fascist government, and had to resign his university post and his membership of scientific academies as a result.Gatto, M. (2009). On Volterra and D'Ancona's footsteps: The temporal and spatial complexity of ecological interactions and networks 1. Italian Journal of Zoology, 76(1), 3-15.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Ancona, Umberto 1896 births 1964 deaths Scientists from Rijeka Italian biologists Academic staff of the University of Pisa Academic staff of the University of Padua 20th-century biologists Italians in the Austro-Hungarian Empire

See also

References