Guglielmo Gasparrini (3 January 1803 – 28 June 1866) was an Italian

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 ...

and

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

Biography

Guglielmo Gasparrini was born in Castelgrande, in the

Province of Potenza The province of Potenza (; Potentino: ) is a province in the Basilicata region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Potenza. Geography It has an area of and a total population of 369,538 (as of 2017). There are 100 ''comuni'' (singular: ''com ...

. After his first studies in his native town, he moved to

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

to attend the veterinary school. Subsequently, he entered the

Botanical Garden of Naples The Botanical Garden of the University of Naples Federico II (in Italian: ''Orto botanico dell'Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II'' or simply ''Orto botanico'') is a research facility and botanical garden of the University of Naples ...

, under the guide of

Michele Tenore Michele Tenore (5 May 1780 – 19 July 1861) was an Italian botanist active in Naples, Italy. Tenore studied at the University of Naples, receiving his medical degree in 1800. Tenore was a friend of botanists Domenico Maria Leone Cirillo (1739– ...

and

Giovanni Gussone Giovanni Gussone (8 February 1787, in Villamaina – 14 January 1866, in Naples) was an Italian academic and botanist, remembered for his work in plant taxonomy and in particular his research in Sicilian flora. He studied medicine in Naples, w ...

. Graduating in the physical and natural sciences, he was professor of botany at the

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 ...

. From 1857 to 1861, he taught at the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...

, of which he was also magnificent rector (Magnífico Reitor). After returning to Naples, he was director of the Neapolitan Botanical Garden from 1861 to 1866. Gasparrini was a member of several scientific institutes such as the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

, the

Accademia Pontaniana The Accademia Pontaniana was the first academy in the modern sense, as a learned society for scholars and humanists and guided by a formal statute. Patronized by Alfonso V of Aragon, it was founded by the poet Antonio Beccadelli in Naples durin ...

, and the Academy of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of Naples, of which he was appointed president until 1862. He died in Naples in 1866.

Selected works

* ''Osservazioni sopra talune modificazioni organiche in alcune cellule vegetali'', Naples, Stamperia del Fibreno, 1863 * ''Ricerche sulla Embriogenia della Canapa'', Naples, 1863 * ''Ricerche sulla natura dei succiatori e la escrezione delle radici ed osservazioni morfologiche sopra taluni organi della Lemna minor'', Naples, Tip.Dura, 1856; * ''Ricerche sulla natura del caprifico, del fico e sulla caprificazione'', Naples, tip. Di Aquila/Puzziello, 1845 * ''Ricerche sulla natura degli Stomi'', Naples, 1842 * ''Ricerche sulla natura della pietra jungja e sul fungo che vi soprannasce'', Naples, Gerolomini, 1841 * ''Descrizione di un nuovo genere di piante della famiglia delle Leguminose'', Naples, 1836

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gasparrini, Guglielmo 1803 births 1866 deaths 19th-century Italian botanists Italian mycologists People from the Province of Potenza Academic staff of the University of Naples Federico II Scientists from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies