Cataldo Agostinelli (16 December 1894 – 18 January 1988) was an Italian

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

who wrote 218 papers and several treatises in various disciplines which include dynamics of rigid systems,

celestial mechanics Celestial mechanics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the motions of objects in outer space. Historically, celestial mechanics applies principles of physics (classical mechanics) to astronomical objects, such as stars and planets, to ...

, dynamics of non-holonomic systems and magnetohydrodynamics about which he wrote (1966), commissioned by C.N.R., a broad monograph in which also the magnetohydrodynamics waves, the vortexes and the plasma theory are dealt with.Antonio Pignedoli, ''Necrologio di Cataldo Agostinelli'', Bollettino dell’Unione Matematica Italiana, serie VII, volume IIA, (1989), n. 3, pp. 353–369. He was member of the

Accademia dei Lincei The (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed"), anglicised as the Lincean Academy, is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rome, Italy. Founded in ...

, President of the Accademia delle Scienze of Turin and member of several other local Academies.

Biography

Cataldo Agostinelli was born in

Ceglie Messapico Ceglie Messapica (; ) is a town, and ''comune'', located in the province of Brindisi and region of Apulia, in southern Italy, in the traditional area called Salento. Geography The area of Ceglie Messapica is located between the Murge and the Up ...

(

Brindisi Brindisi ( ; ) is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic position ...

) on 16 December 1894 and died in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

on 18 January 1988. He graduated in 1920 in mechanical engineering at the

Polytechnic University of Turin The Polytechnic University of Turin (, abbreviated as PoliTO) is the oldest Italian Public university, public Institute of technology, technical university. The university offers several courses in the fields of Engineering, Architecture, Urban ...

and later in mathematics in 1930. At first he carried out a technical activity, later (1931–38) he became a professor of

mechanics Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...

at the Regio Istituto Industriale (Royal Industrial college) "Omar" in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. Rational mechanics lecturer since 1935, he was appointed for such subject at the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

and of

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

. In 1940 he was the first of a group of three (the others were

Maria Pastori Maria Pastori (10 March 1895 - 17 April 1975) was an Italian mathematician and teacher. She was a Professor of Rational Mechanics at the University of Milan, and worked on differential calculus and the application of mathematics to electromagnets ...

and Giovanni Lampariello) at the public competitive examination for the teaching post in rational mechanics at the

University of Messina The University of Messina (; Latin: ''Studiorum Universitas Messanae''), known colloquially as UniME, is a state university located in Messina, Sicily, Italy. Founded in 1548 by Pope Paul III, it was the world's first Jesuit college, and today it ...

: he was called to

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

from where, in the immediate postwar period, he was able to be transferred to

Notes

External links

An Italian short biography of Cataldo Agostinelli
in ''MATEpristem online''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Agostinelli, Cataldo 1894 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Italian mathematicians University of Turin alumni Academic staff of the University of Turin