Ferdinando Pio Rosellini (1814–1872) 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 ...

and

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Life and work

The son of a wealthy family of merchants of

Pescia Pescia () is an Italian city in the province of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located in a central zone between the cities Lucca and Florence, on the banks of the river of the same name. History Archaeological excavations have suggest ...

, his elder brother was the Egyptologist Ippolito Rosellini. He studied mathematics at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...

, and mathematical physics at the

University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'') (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The f ...

under Leopoldo Nobili. From 1836 he was the tutor for the four sons of Giorgio Doria in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

; one of them became the known botanist

Giacomo Doria Marquis Giacomo Doria (1 November 1840 – 19 September 1913) was an Italian naturalist, botanist, herpetologist, and politician. He was the founder of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale in Genoa in 1867, and director from then until his de ...

, the namesake of the Natural History Museum of Genoa. In 1844, botanist

Giuseppe De Notaris Giuseppe De Notaris (18 April 1805 – 22 January 1877) was an Italian botanist generally known for his work with cryptogams native to Italy. Biography Born 18 April 1805, in Milan, he studied medicine at the University of Pavia, obtaining his ...

published a genus of

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

, in the family

Xylariaceae The Xylariaceae are a family of mostly small ascomycetous fungi. It is one of the most commonly encountered groups of ascomycetes and is found throughout the temperate and tropical regions of the world. They are typically found on wood, seeds, f ...

, called '' Rosellinia'' in Ferdinando's honour. In 1846, three years after the death of his brother Ippolito, he married his widow and adopted his three sons: Eugenio, Angela and Giovanbattista. In 1848, during the Revolutionary period, he was very active in politics; he was a member of the Circolo Patriottico Milanese, and editor of the political journal ''La Croce di Savoia''. In 1853 he was appointed director of the ''Istituto di Commercio e Industria'' of

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 ...

, founded by Cavour. From 1859 he was director of ''Istituto Tecnico Leardi'' in

Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato () is a town in the Piedmont region of Northwest Italy, northwestern Italy, in the province of Alessandria. It is situated about east of Turin on the right bank of the Po River, Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montfe ...

where he had as a student a young

Vilfredo Pareto Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto (; ; born Wilfried Fritz Pareto; 15 July 1848 – 19 August 1923) was an Italian polymath, whose areas of interest included sociology, civil engineering, economics, political science, and philosophy. He made severa ...

. After his death in 1872, his herbarium and manuscripts remained in the 'Istituto'. In 1921, botanist Edvard August Vainio published '' Roselliniella'' a genus of

, (in the

Hypocreales The Hypocreales are an order of fungi within the class Sordariomycetes. In 2008, it was estimated that it contained some 237 genera, and 2647 species in seven families. Since then, a considerable number of further taxa have been identified, in ...

order). Then in 1986, botanist

Rolf Santesson Rolf Santesson (1916–2013) was a Swedish lichenologist and university lecturer. He was awarded the Acharius Medal in 1992 for his lifetime contributions to lichenology. Early life and education Santesson was born in 1916 in Trollhättan, Sw ...

published ''

Rosellinula ''Rosellinula'' is a genus of fungi in the class Dothideomycetes. The relationship of this taxon to other taxa within the class is unknown (''incertae sedis''). The genus was circumscribed by Rolf Santesson in Syst. Ascom. vol.5 (2) on page 311 i ...

'' a genus of

, (in the class

Dothideomycetes Dothideomycetes is the largest and most diverse class of ascomycete fungi. It comprises 11 orders 90 families, 1,300 genera and over 19,000 known species. Wijayawardene et al. in 2020 added more orders to the class. Traditionally, most of it ...

). Lastly, in 1990,

Mario Matzer Mario (; ) is a character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Japanese video game company Nintendo. ...

and Josef Hafellner published both '' Roselliniomyces'' and '' Roselliniopsis'' (two fungi genera from order

Sordariales The order Sordariales is one of the most diverse taxonomic groups within the Sordariomycetes (subdivision Pezizomycotina, division Ascomycota). Species in the order Sordariales have a broad range of ecological diversity, containing lignicolous, ...

), also named in Ferdinando Pio Rosellini's honour.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosellini, Ferdinando Pio 1814 births 1872 deaths 19th-century Italian mathematicians 19th-century Italian botanists University of Pisa alumni University of Florence alumni People from Pisa