Michele Tenore (5 May 1780 – 19 July 1861) 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 ...

active 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 ...

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 ...

. Tenore studied 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 ...

, receiving his medical degree in 1800. Tenore was a friend of botanists Domenico Maria Leone Cirillo (1739–1799) and

Vincenzo Petagna Vincenzo Petagna (Naples, 17 January 1734 – 6 October 1810) was an Italian biologist, physician and entomologist. He was appointed as director of the small botanical garden pertaining to the Monastery of Santa Maria di Monte Oliveto (associated ...

(1734–1810). Tenore made numerous botanical excursions into

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

and particularly

Majella The Maiella (or Majella) is a massif in the Central Apennines, in Abruzzo, central Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Penins ...

, and gave private courses in botany. In 1811, he succeeded Petagna to the university's chair in botany. Tenore helped establish 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 ...

, and became its director in 1810. He also served as president of the

Accademia nazionale delle scienze The Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze (), or more formally L'Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze detta dei XL, and also called the Accademia dei XL (), is Italy's national academy of science. Its offices are located within the Villino Rosso, at the co ...

, and served as president of 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 ...

six times from the 1830s through the 1850s. In 1853, Tenore founded the Tenore prize, a prize still awarded from the Accademia Pontaniana.See the section " Tenore prize" in the Accademia Pontaniana entry.

Selected works

* * TENORE M., 1811-38 - Flora Napolitana. Napoli. 1-5. Stamperia Reale, Napoli. Tipografia del Giornale Enciclopedico, Napoli. Stamperia Francese, Napoli. Stamperia Francese, Napoli. * TENORE M., 1832 - Memoria sulle peregrinazioni botaniche effettuate nella provincia di Napoli nella primavera del 1825 dal Cavaliere Michele Tenore colle indicazioni di alcune piante da aggiungersi alla Flora Napolitana e la descrizione di una specie di Ononis. Atti R. Accad. Scienze Cl. Fis. e St. Nat., 3: 49-88. * TENORE M., 1843 - Rapporto intorno alle peregrinazioni de' soci ordinari M. Tenore e G. Gussone eseguite in Luglio 1834. Atti R. Accad. Scienze 5(1): 283-290. Napoli 1843 (in collab. con G. Gussone). * TENORE M., 1843 - Osservazioni botaniche raccolte in un viaggio eseguito per diversi luoghi della provincia di Terra di Lavoro e di Abruzzo nell'està del 1834 dai soci Tenore e Gussone. Ibid.: 291-334, 1 tav. Napoli 1843 (In collab. con G. Gussone). * TENORE M., 1846 - Osservazioni intorno all'Erbario Centrale di Firenze (23 settembre 1845). p. 852. Napoli 1846. * TENORE M., 1856 - Una gita all'Isola d'Ischia. Lettera al Sig. N. N. Giornale "L'Iride" 1, n. 20 (estr. pp. 6) Napoli, Tip. Gazzette de' Tribunali ( 14x21.5).

References

Biography (Italian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tenore, Michele 19th-century Italian botanists Scholars from the Kingdom of Naples Scientists from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies 1780 births 1861 deaths