Vittorio Simonelli (May 1860, in

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation o ...

– 9 February 1929, in San Quirico d'Orcia) was an Italian

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, alt ...

and

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of foss ...

Biography

He studied natural sciences at the University of Pisa as a pupil of

Giuseppe Meneghini Giuseppe Giovanni Antonio Meneghini (30 July 1811, Padua – 29 January 1889, Pisa) was an Italian botanist, geologist and paleontologist. Biography Meneghini became interested in science under his school teacher Pietro Melo. Follow ...

. From 1883 he taught classes in physical geography at Pisa, later travelling to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, where in 1889/90 he studied paleontology with Karl von Zittel and

August Rothpletz Friedrich August Rothpletz (28 April 1853, in Neustadt an der Haardt – 27 January 1918, in Oberstdorf) was a German geologist and paleontologist. Biography From 1875 to 1880 he conducted geological mapping in Saxony as part of the ''Säch ...

. From 1891 to 1895 he was an assistant to the chair of geology at the University of Bologna, then relocated to University of Parma as an instructor of geology and

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proce ...

.Vittorio Simonelli - Archivio Storico dell'Università di Bologna
(biography) In 1903 he returned to Bologna as a teacher of geology at the Royal School of Engineers ("''Regia Scuola d'Applicazione per gli Ingegneri''"), and during the following year took on additional duties as an instructor of geology and mineralogy at the Royal School of Agriculture ("''Regia Scuola Superiore di Agraria''"), also in Bologna. In 1904 Giovanni Capellini appointed Simonelli as curator of the ''Museo Geologico'' at the university. During his career, he travelled widely, taking scientific trips throughout Italy, and to

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

Cephalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia ( el, Κεφαλονιά), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It ...

, Podolia, Palestine,

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

. In 1893 he was the first to identify the remains of prehistoric

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

s on Crete, being located in three cave sites near the city of Rethymno. Also on Crete he discovered the remains of prehistoric deer, which he described as ''Anoglochis cretensis''. The mineral simonellite commemorates his name.

Published works

He was the author of sixty published works that included treatises on the geology of

Monte Cetona The Monte Cetona is a mountain located in the southern Tuscany region of Italy. Features The mountain stands near the SE border of the province of Siena, and closes the long, hilly ridge which divides val d'Orcia from val di Chiana. It belon ...

, fossils of La Verna and the geology of

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban ...

, to name a few. He was a founding editor, with Carlo Fornasini, of the journal ''Rivista italiana di paleontologia''. The following are some of his significant writings: * ''Il Monte della Verna e i suoi fossili'', 1884. * ''Terreni e fossili dell'isola di Pianosa nel mar Tirreno'', 1889. * ''Dei recenti studi geologici e paleontologici sul territorio senese'', 1895. * ''Antozoi neogenici del Museo Parmense'', 1896. * ''Candia : ricordi di escursione'', 1897. * ''Die marinen Ablagerungen auf Gran Canaria'', 1898 (in German, with

). * ''Le fosforiti di Terra d'Otranto'', 1919 * ''Cenni sopra alcuni giacimenti fosfatiferi della Galizia, della Podolia e della Palestina'', 1919.Most widely held works by Vittorio Simonelli
at WorldCat Identities

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simonelli, Vittorio 1860 births 1929 deaths People from Arezzo University of Pisa alumni Italian paleontologists 19th-century Italian geologists Italian mineralogists 20th-century Italian geologists