Luigi Caponaro (14 August 1567 in
Salerno
Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...
– 1622 in
Gaeta
Gaeta (; ; Southern Latian dialect, Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a seaside resort in the province of Latina in Lazio, Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples.
The city has played ...
) was a healer in
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 ...
and Gaeta,
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 the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Caponaro received a medical degree in Naples but never practiced medicine per se due to a reported aversion to the sight of
blood
Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells.
Blood is com ...
. Instead he roamed the streets of Naples and later Gaeta dispensing
pro-bono
( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...
medical advice and assistance to those in need.
Caponaro died in Gaeta at the age of 55 of
cholera
Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
.
He is mentioned in the works of
Giambattista Basile
Giambattista Basile ( – 23 February 1632) was an Italian poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector. His collections include the oldest recorded forms of many well-known (and more obscure) European fairy tales. He is chiefly remembered for writi ...
and
Giulio Cesare Cortese
Giulio Cesare Cortese (1570 in Naples, Kingdom of Naples – 22 December 1622 in Naples) was a writer and poet.
Life
Born to a well-to-do family, nothing is known of Cortese's early life, though it is thought that he was a schoolmate of Giambatti ...
.
People from the Kingdom of Naples
1567 births
1622 deaths
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