Stjepan Gradić, also known as Stefano Gradi (Latin: Stephanus Gradius; 6 March 1613 – 2 May 1683) was a philosopher, scientist and a patrician of the Republic of Ragusa.

Biography

Stijepo's parents were Miho Gradi (Gradić) and Marija Benessa (Beneša). He was born in

Ragusa Ragusa is the historical name of Dubrovnik. It may also refer to: Places Croatia * the Republic of Ragusa (or Republic of Dubrovnik), the maritime city-state of Ragusa * Cavtat (historically ' in Italian), a town in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Cro ...

, Republic of Ragusa, where he was first schooled. He moved to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

by the order of his uncle, a vicar general of

, Petar Benessa. In

and in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

he studied philosophy,

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

, law and mathematics. His mathematics professor in Rome was Bonaventura Cavalieri and in

his mathematics professor was Benedetto Castelli. He became a priest in 1643, the year he returned home and soon became abbot of the Benedictine abbey of St. Cosmas and Damian on the island of Pašman, canon of cathedral choir in

and

n deputy Archbishop. After a private trip to

he remained there until his death as the official diplomatic representative of the Republic of Ragusa to the Holy See. Since 1682 he was the head of the Vatican Library. Gradić was a

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

. He cooperated with the historian Joannes Lucius in defending the honor and reputation of their native country of unjust attacks of some Italian and French writers, translated classical authors, wrote a biography of the

n writer

Junije Palmotić Junije (Džono) Palmotić, (also ''Giunio'' in Italian or ''Junius Palmotta'' in Latin) (1606 - 1657) was a Croatian baroque writer, poet and dramatist from the Republic of Ragusa. He was a member of the Palmotić noble family. Early life Pal ...

and a poem about the

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

. In the literary and scientific circle of pope Alexander VII and Queen Christina of Sweden Gradić discussed scientific and philosophical issues. His philosophical works are written in the spirit of Aristotelianism and scholasticism. Gradić was a member of the Royal Academy in Padua, having correspondence with many notable Europeans. He described the disastrous earthquake in Ragusa in 1667 in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

verses and organized help from all over

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

for the devastated city. Along with philosophy, he engaged in mathematics,

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to inclu ...

and

diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

. In mathematics, he dealt with Galileo's paradox. This work went unnoticed and was even unknown to Roger Joseph Boscovich who was a professor of mathematics at the Collegium Romanum where a century before Gradić had been an alumnus. In his only printed mathematical treatise ''De loco Galilaei quo punctum lineae aequale pronuntiat'' published in the collection ''Dissertationes physico-mathematicae quatuor'' he disputed the concept of indivisible and developed a series of ideas en route to infinitesimal method. He was solving many mathematical problems which are left in his own inheritance and correspondence with other mathematicians as well, including those of

Ghetaldus Marino Ghetaldi ( lat, Marinus Ghetaldus; hr, Marin Getaldić; 2 October 1568 – 11 April 1626) was a Ragusan scientist. A mathematician and physicist who studied in Italy, England and Belgium, his best results are mainly in physics, especially ...

such as the first problem from Ghetaldus' work ''Apollonius redivivus''. In scientific correspondence with Giovanni Alfonso Borelli and Honoré Fabri he published works dealing with the natural causes of motion and the laws of acceleration and falling bodies. He wrote on the problem of true and apparent position of the polar star.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gradic, Stjepan 1613 births 1683 deaths Croatian philosophers Croatian scientists Croatian mathematicians Croatian translators People from the Republic of Ragusa Ragusan diplomats People from Dubrovnik 17th-century translators

Biography

See also

References

External links