Giovanni Valentino Mattia Fabbroni (13 February 1752 – 17 December 1822) was an Italian

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

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 ...

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the Uni ...

and

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

Biography

Giovanni Valentino Mattia Fabbroni was born in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy, the son of Horace and Rosalinda Werner. His mother originated in Heidelberg. In 1775 he collaborated with Felice Fontana in setting up the

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

in Florence (''Museo di Fisica e Storia Naturale di Firenze''). From 1777 to 1778 he wrote ''Reflexions sur l'état actuel de l'agricolture'', a work which had a considerable impact on farming in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

. He became a member of the

Accademia dei Georgofili The Accademia dei Georgofili (Academy of Georgofili) is an educational institution in Florence, Italy. It was established in 1753. The academy has been a historic institution for over 250 years, and is best known for promoting, amongst scholars a ...

in 1783. Fabbroni took on an increasing role in Florentine society as a proponent of

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...

and

agrarian reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

, and was a supporter of Leopold II. He continued to write scholarly works such as ''Dell'Antracite o carbone di cava detto volgarmente carbone fossile'' (1790). During the

Napoleonic era The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and history of Europe, Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly (French Revoluti ...

, Fabbroni was influential in the development of the

metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...

and in its introduction to Italy. He also carried out research into

electrochemistry Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between Electric potential, electrical potential difference and identifiable chemical change. These reactions involve Electron, electrons moving via an electronic ...

, particularly into Volta's pile. He died in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

, aged 70. The crater Fabbroni on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

is named after him. The library of the

Museo Galileo Museo Galileo (formerly ''Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza''; Institute and Museum of the History of Science) is located in Florence, Italy, in Piazza dei Giudici, along the River Arno and close to the Uffizi Gallery. The museum, dedicat ...

detains most of the archival documents concerning Giovanni Fabbroni: the “Fondo Fabbroni”, and the “Carte Fabbroni”. This last consists of the many letters and notes concerning the Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History of Florence, which offer access to the various activities of study and research promoted by the institute, as well as its management. From many of these documents, which Fabbroni always kept in his private archive, one can clearly follow the conflict opposing him to Felice Fontana. Moreover, the archival fund offers a glimpse to the political and cultural life of Tuscany at a time of profound political and institutional changes, and a precious insight to the scientific context of the 18th and 19th century.

References

External links

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Archive of Museo Galileo
Scientists from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany Scientists from Florence 1752 births 1822 deaths {{Italy-scientist-stub