Umberto D’Ancona (9 May 1896 – 24 August 1964) was an Italian

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually specialize in ...

. He attended secondary school in Fiume and later enrolled as a student in the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Budapest. During World War I he interrupted his studies to fight as artillery officer, and became wounded and was decorated for military valor. From 1916 to 1920 he studied at the University of Rome under supervision of Giulio Cotronei. He graduated on a thesis on the effect of starvation on the digestive tract of the eel. He was assistant to

Giovanni Batista Grassi Giovanni Battista Grassi (27 March 1854 – 4 May 1925) was an Italian physician and zoologist, best known for his pioneering works on parasitology, especially on malariology. He was Professor of Comparative Zoology at the University of Catani ...

and later succeeded Grassi as director of the Comparative Anatomy Institute of the Sapienza University of Rome. He later moved to the University of Padua where he founded the hydrobiological station in Chioggia that now bears his name. He was a member of the

Accademia dei Lincei The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rom ...

and a corresponding member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...

. His work covered marine biology and his interests ranged from physiology to hydrobiology, oceanography and evolutionary theory. He described numerous species, published over 300 papers and authored several books, among them ''Trattato di Zoologia'' (1953) and ''Elementi di Biologia Generale'' (1945). He studied the effect of reduced fishing effort on the fish stocks in the Adriatic Sea during World War I when fisheries were much reduced. In 1926 he married Luisa Volterra, daughter of the mathematician Vito Volterra. D'Ancona's work and discussions with Volterra on the effect of reduced fishing on fish stocks inspired Volterra's work on

mathematical biology Mathematical and theoretical biology, or biomathematics, is a branch of biology which employs theoretical analysis, mathematical models and abstractions of the living organisms to investigate the principles that govern the structure, development a ...

and led to the formulation of the Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model. After Volterra's death d'Ancona published his book ''La Lotta per l'Esistenza'' (1942) (translated into English as ''The Struggle for Existence'' (1954)), which was inspired and motivated by the work of his father-in-law. The publication of this book in homage to Volterra in 1942 in

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

-controlled Italy is noteworthy as Volterra had refused to sign the oath of allegiance to the fascist government, and had to resign his university post and his membership of scientific academies as a result.Gatto, M. (2009). On Volterra and D'Ancona's footsteps: The temporal and spatial complexity of ecological interactions and networks 1. Italian Journal of Zoology, 76(1), 3-15.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Ancona, Umberto 1896 births 1964 deaths Scientists from Rijeka Italian biologists Academic staff of the University of Pisa Academic staff of the University of Padua 20th-century biologists Italians in the Austro-Hungarian Empire

See also

References