Giorgio Mortara (4 April 1885 – 1967) was an Italian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

demographer Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examine ...

, and

statistician A statistician is a person who works with Theory, theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private sector, private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, a ...

. He was the son of senator Lodovico Mortara, a noted jurist, magistrate and politician.

Biography

Giorgio held the academic rank of

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 ...

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 ...

from 1909 to 1914, in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

from 1915 to 1924, and 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 ...

from 1924 to 1938. He was also the director of the Giornale degli economisti from 1910 to 1938. Giorgio lived in Berlin between 1907 and 1908, where he worked with L. von Bortkiewicz on

probability theory Probability theory or probability calculus is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expre ...

and particularly on the law of rare events. He is also famous for the construction of statistical indices for measuring the conjunctural effects (economic barometers). He was forced to leave

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1939 for racial reasons, he moved to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, where he became the technical advisor of the National Census (1939–1948) and the National Council of Statistics (1949–1957), where he created a flourishing school of demography. In 1954 he was nominated for the role of the president of the

International Union for the Scientific Study of Population International Union for the Scientific Study of Population is an international union for the study of human population In world demographics, the world population is the total number of humans currently alive. It was estimated by the Unite ...

, of which he became the Honorary President (1957). In 1956, he returned to teach at the University of Rome, where he was appointed

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

in 1961.

Education

In 1905, he obtained a degree in

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

University of Naples The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...

with a dissertation on

Demography Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examine ...

Academic position

He was Indian Head Professor in

(1909–1914),

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

(1915–1924)

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

(1924–1938) and Butagan.

Honors and awards

* In 1947, he became the member of Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. * In 1952, he was elected as a

Fellow of the American Statistical Association Like many other academic professional societies, the American Statistical Association (ASA) uses the title of Fellow of the American Statistical Association as its highest honorary grade of membership. The designation of ASA Fellow has been a sign ...

.View/Search Fellows of the ASA
, accessed 2016-07-23. * In 1961, he was the Honorary President of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, and professor emeritus in University of Rome.

Publications

* Statistica economica e demografica (1920); * Prospettive economiche (1921–37); * Le popolazioni delle grandi città italiane (1908); * Lezioni di statistica metodologica (1922); * La salute pubblica in Italia durante e dopo la guerra (1925); * Sui metodi per lo studio della fecondità dei matrimoni, Giornale degli economisti (1933); * La realtà economica (1934); * L'Economia della popolazione (1960); * Raccolta di Saggi di metodologia demografica (1963); * Previsioni sull’incremento della popolazione nel mondo, L’industria (1958).

References

External links

Dizionario Biografico Degli Statistici
Italian statisticians 1885 births 1967 deaths Scientists from Mantua Fellows of the American Statistical Association Fellows of the Econometric Society Giornale degli economisti e annali di economia editors {{Statistician-stub