''Cavaliere dottore'' Carlo Fornasini (3 November 185424 December 1931) was an Italian micropalaeontologist who specialised in
Foraminifera
Foraminifera ( ; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are unicellular organism, single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class (biology), class of Rhizarian protists characterized by streaming granular Ectoplasm (cell bio ...
('forams'). He was a pioneer in using fossil forams to sequence marine sedimentary deposits by their relative dates; Based on a study by Gian Battista Vai, ''ordinario'' (British English: lecturer; American English: professor) at the University of Bologna, and Director of the ''Museo Geologico Giovanni Capellini''. a technique called biostratigraphy.
Biography
He was the third son of Francesco Fornasini, a medical doctor, and his wife Carlotta ().
He studied natural sciences at the
University of Bologna
The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...
Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
of Geology there. In 1877, he graduated with honours as ''dottore'' (in effect, PhD), on the basis of a
thesis
A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...
which argued from the sequence of the fossil record that certain chalks, marls and clays in the Savena valley near Bologna dated from the
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Ma) rather than, as had previously been thought (including by Capellini), from the
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
(23.0-5.3 Ma). That same year, Capellini published a paper about this discovery which relegated Fornasini's contribution to that of an assistant and which passed off Fornasini's conclusions as his own. That sort of behaviour has become unacceptable. In 1928, Michele Gortani (1883-1966), who had succeeded Capellini as Professor of Geology, wrote that "the Master had deprived his most promising student, Carlo Fornasini, of the pleasure and pride of announcing his discovery ..and the results of his studies" (). Furthermore, Capellini may not have properly understood Fornasini's ideas. This affair may explain why Fornasini published nothing for the next four years.
In 1881, Fornasini returned to palaeontology, possibly persuaded by his friend Lodovico Foresti (1829-1913, ''assistente'' (assistant) at the ''Museo Geologico'' in Bologna). In September and October 1881, he helped to organise, and he attended, the 2nd International Geological Congress in Bologna, which settled important international questions of nomenclature, standardisation and cooperation. When the was founded in Bologna during the Congress, under the leadership of Giuseppe Meneghini (1811-1889) and Capellini, he was one of the original members. He remained a member until at least 1922, and between 1883 and 1903 served several times as deputy secretary and as a member of its council. In 1883, he was appointed ''cavaliere'' (knight) in the
Order of the Crown of Italy
The Order of the Crown of Italy ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...
. In 1884, he became a corresponding member of the ''Reale Accademia del Poggio'' (nowadays, '), Montevarchi. In 1885, he was one of the secretaries at the 3rd International Congress in Berlin; and in 1888, also at the 4th International Congress in London. In 1889, he was made an honorary member of the '' Reale Accademia delle scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna''. From 1894 until 1910, he was an ''amministratore'' (director) of the ''Accademia'' in Bologna. In 1895, he was appointed ''assistente'' at the ''Museo Geologico'', and in 1903 its ''conservatore'' (
curator
A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...
). In 1895, Fornasani and Vittorio Simonelli (1860-1929) founded the journal ''Rivista italiana di paleontologia'' ('Italian Review of Palaeontology'). Fornasini was no longer one of the principal editors after 1896, but he is named on the title page as a ''collaboratore'' (collaborator, or co-worker, or contributing editor) until 1904. In 1900 he joined the of Acireale, Sicily as a corresponding member. Poor health forced him to give up his scientific work by 1911. He nevertheless maintained an interest in his speciality, and donated his library and his collection of specimens to the ''Museo Geologico''.
He married Emilia Erhardt (at a date not determined), and they had two children: Carlo Francesco, a son, and Elsa, a daughter. He was mayor of Poggio Renatico, a ''
comune
A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...
'' (municipality) about northeast of Bologna, for almost 30 years. In 1902, he donated to Poggio Renatico the land on which the church of San Michele ( Saint Michael) now stands.
He is commemorated by a bronze plaque in the ''Museo Geologico''.
Scientific work
His main interest was always Foraminifera, on which he became a world authority. He worked mostly as an amateur scientist, independent of academic institutions.
He published chiefly in the journals (dates of earliest and latest papers in parentheses) ''Bollettino della Società geologica italiana'' (1883-1905), ''Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna'' (1889-1908), and ''Rivista italiana di paleontologia'' (1896-1903). He published more than sixty papers in those journals. They include a series of ten papers in ''Memorie'' entitled "Contributo alla conoscenza della Microfauna terziaria Italiana" ('Contribution to the Knowledge of Italian Microfauna of the Tertiary') (1889-1899), in which he attempted a critical analysis of all available information on the subject. That included identifying synonymy, where two or more scientists had unknowingly described the same species as new to science; an area of study as important in the advancement of
taxonomy
image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy
Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...
as the description of new species.
The
WoRMS
The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms.
Content
The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...
database lists 78 species of Foraminifera described by him, all between 1883 and 1902. Some of those species have been reclassified into other genera. That is a commonplace occurrence in biology, if a later researcher either revises a genus, or describes a new genus and moves that species into it. However, the fact that Fornasini is still credited as taxonomic authority for 77 of those 78 species shows that he was a careful, accurate and knowledgeable observer.
Eponyms
The WoRMS database lists 18 species of Foraminifera whose
specific epithet
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
includes 'fornasini', all described between 1893 and 1948. They were most likely named in honour of Carlo Fornasini, but it would be necessary to consult the original descriptions to be certain.
''Fondazione Dott. Carlo Fornasini''
In 1964, his son Carlo Francesco donated land and money in his
will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
to set up in his father's memory the ''Fondazione Dott. Carlo Fornasini'' at Poggio Renatico. Its original aim was to encourage research into human organ transplantation, later expanded to the more general topic of social and human sciences, with particular regard to
ethics
Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...