Francesco Selmi (7 April 1817 – 13 August 1881) was an Italian chemist and patriot, one of the founders of colloid chemistry. Selmi was born in Vignola, then part of the

Duchy of Modena and Reggio The Duchy of Modena and Reggio (; ; ) was an Italian state created in 1452 located in Northern Italy, Northwestern Italy, in the present day region of Emilia-Romagna. It was ruled since its establishment by the noble House of Este, and from 1814 ...

. He became head of a chemistry laboratory in

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 1840, and a

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 chemical pharmacology and

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating ex ...

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 ...

in 1867. He published the first systematic study of inorganic colloids, in particular

silver chloride Silver chloride is an inorganic chemical compound with the chemical formula Ag Cl. This white crystalline solid is well known for its low solubility in water and its sensitivity to light. Upon illumination or heating, silver chloride converts ...

Prussian blue Prussian blue (also known as Berlin blue, Brandenburg blue, Parisian and Paris blue) is a dark blue pigment produced by oxidation of ferrous ferrocyanide salts. It has the chemical formula . It consists of cations, where iron is in the oxidat ...

, and

sulfur Sulfur ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms ...

,Wolfgang Pauli, The structure and properties of colloidal sulfur
Journal of Colloid Science, Volume 2, Issue 3, June 1947, Pages 333-348 in the period 1845–50. He died in Vignola on the 13th of August, 1881, at age 64, due to

sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

that he contracted while dissecting a dead animal for his research on

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

References

External links

Fondo Documentario Francesco Selmi
Biblioteca Comunale di Vignola
Francesco Selmi, books and articles
Google Book Search

1817 births 1881 deaths Italian chemists People from Vignola Colloid chemists {{Chemist-stub