Paolo Lioy (31 July 1834,

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

– 27 January 1911, Vancimuglio di Grumolo delle Abbadesse) 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 ...

, redshirt patriot and politician.

Career

After graduating from high school, Lioy studied law in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

. In 1853 he demonstrated his childhood interest in the natural sciences, by taking part in the reorganization of collections of the natural history section of Museo naturalistico archeologico in Vicenz

At this time he was also engaged in writing articles and political activism in favor of the Risorgimento, unification of Italy. In 1857, he married the daughter of an officer of Bourbon, Giulia de Beaumont. In 1859 he published La vita nell'universo (Life in the universe), the first of his several

popular science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...

books and translated into French. From 1862 to 1869 he served as Secretary of the Accademia Olimpica di Vicenza. In 1864 he began excavations in the valleys around Arcugnano, looking for remains of

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

settlements, thus giving rise to a series of archaeological finds that continued in the next century, well after his death. Based on data collected in 1876 he published the book ''Le abitazioni lacustri di Fimon'' ( Fimon Lake dwellings), which had once again international resonance. From 1865 he also studied fossils from

Monte Bolca Monte Bolca is an Ypresian, Early Eocene-aged geologic site located near Verona, Italy, Verona, Italy. A ''Konservat-Lagerstätte'', it contains an extremely well-preserved and diverse marine biota, including the most diverse fish fauna of any Ce ...

. In 1866 because his involvement with

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

the Austrian authorities forced him to leave. He moved to Milan along with other political refugees. His exile lasted a few months, after which he returned to Vicenza where he was appointed Provveditorato agli studi and became a Deputy, although again only for a few months. He served as councillor from 1866 to 1902 and from 1867 to 1905 provincial Councillor. From 1870 he was elected to 6 consecutive legislatures, until 1888. In 1905 he was appointed senatore del Regno (Senator of the Kingdom). His scientific and literary activity continued despite political commitments, throughout his life, which ended in 1911. For his calling for a general audience and literary abilities, Paolo Lioy was nicknamed by his contemporaries "il poeta della natura" (the poet of nature).

Honours

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...

Works

Books

* Lo studio della storia naturale (

1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, '' Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * Ja ...

) * La vita nell'universo (1859) * Escursione nel cielo (1864) * Escursione sotterra (1868) * Spiritismo e magnetismo (1869) * Chi dura vince – racconto (1871) * Conferenze scientifiche (1872) * Elettori e deputati (1874) * Le abitazioni lacustri di Fimon (1876) * Quattro novelle (1876) * In montagna (1880, ed. Zanichelli) * Il primo passo nella colpa, (1882), che è un'autobiografia * Altri tempi (1883) * Notte (1883) * Sui laghi (1883) * Nell'ombra (1883) * I bacilli del colera (1884) * In alto (1889) * Alpinismo (1890) * Spiriti del pensiero (1892) * Ditteri italiani (1895) * Piccolo mondo ignoto (1900) * Storia naturale in campagna (1901) * Rimembranze giovanili (1904) * Linneo, Darwin, Agassiz: nella Vita Intima (1904) * Il libro della notte (1905) * Apparizioni e ricordi (1908)

Papers

*Sopra una straordinaria invasione di ditteri della famiglia degli Empiti (Prima parte) ''Atti della Società italiana di Scienze Naturali '' 1864 Vol. 6 Fasc. 3 p. 380 *Sopra una straordinaria invasione di ditteri della famiglia degli Empiti (Continuazione e fine) ''Atti della Società italiana di Scienze Naturali '' 1864 Vol. 6 Fasc. 4p.385 *Sopra una malattia che attacca la mosca domestica e sulla causa che la produce ''Atti della Società italiana di Scienze Naturali '' 1864 Vol. 6 Fasc. 4 p. 397 *Sulle cause di una invasione di Ditteri della famiglia degli Empiti e sulla convenienza di avere presenti nello studio delle vicende paleontologiche i fenomeni somiglianti che accadono nel mondo organico contemporaneo ''Atti della Società italiana di Scienze Naturali '' 1864 Vol.7 Fasc.1 p. 90 *Di una stazione lacustre scoperta nel lago di Fimon ''Atti della Società italiana di Scienze Naturali '' 1864 Vol. 7 Fasc. 1 p. 167 *Sopra alcuni vertebrati fossili del Vicentino ''Atti della Società italiana di Scienze Naturali '' 1865 Vol. 8 Fasc. 4 p. 391 *Cenni sopra uno scheletro completo di coccodrillo fossile scoperto in Monte Purga di Bolca (Crocodilus Vicetinus, Lioy)''Atti della Società italiana di Scienze Naturali '' 1865 Vol. 8 Fasc. 4 p. 393 *Sopra alcuni avanzi di Plagiostomi fossili del Vicentino e specialmente sull'Alopiopsis Plejodon, Lioy (Galeus Cuvieri, Ag.) (Tav. IV)''Atti della Società italiana di Scienze Naturali '' 1865 Vol. 8 Fasc. 4 p 398 *Cenni sulle marne fossilifere di Chiavon nel Vicentino ''Atti della Società italiana di Scienze Naturali '' 1865 Vol. 8 Fasc. 4 p. 406 *Sulle Clupee fossili di Bolca 1865 ''Atti della Società italiana di Scienze Naturali '' Vol. 8 Fasc. 4 p. 410 *Sopra un dente di rinoceronte fossile trovato nell'arenaria grigia di Bolzano nel Bellunese ''Atti della Società italiana di Scienze Naturali '' 1865 Vol. 8 Fasc. 4 p. 415 *La stazione lacustre di Fimon ''Atti della Società italiana di Scienze Naturali '' 1865 Vol. 8 Fasc.4 p. 418 *Sulle condizioni fisiche ed economiche del Vicentino. Discorso d'apertura della Riunione 1''Atti della Società italiana di Scienze Naturali '' 868 Vol. 11 Fasc. 3 p. 425 *I Coccodrilli fossili del Veneto. ''Atti del Reale Istituto Veneto Scienze Lettere ed Arti'' 1896, serie 7, 54: 753–783.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lioy, Paolo 1834 births 1911 deaths Italian entomologists Italian archaeologists