| Giovanni Antonio Scopoli | |
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 Giovanni Antonio Scopoli |
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| Born | June 3, 1723 Cavalese, Val di Fiemme |
| Died | May 8, 1788 (aged 64) Pavia (now Italy) |
| Residence | Italy, Austrian Empire |
| Nationality | Tyrolean |
| Fields | |
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopolius) (3 June 1723—8 May 1788) was a Tyrolean physician and naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational European" and the "Linnaeus of the Austrian Empire".[1]
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Biography [edit]
Scopoli was born at Cavalese in the Val di Fiemme of Tyrol, the son of a lawyer of Italian descent. He obtained a degree in medicine at University of Innsbruck, and practiced as a doctor in Cavalese and Venice.[2] Much of his time was spent in the Alps, collecting plants and insects, of which he made outstanding collections.
He spent two years as private secretary to the bishop of Seckau, and then was appointed in 1754 as physician of the mercury mines in Idrija, a small town in the Habsburg realm, remaining there till 1769. In 1761, he published De Hydroargyro Idriensi Tentamina on the symptoms of mercury poisoning among mercury miners.
Scopoli spent time studying the local natural history, publishing Flora Carniolica (1760) as well as a major work on the insects of Carniola, Entomologia Carniolica (1763). He also published a series of Anni Historico-Naturales (1769–72), which included first descriptions of birds from various collections.
In 1769, Scopoli was appointed a professor of chemistry and metallurgy at Mining Academy at Schemnitz (now Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia), and in 1777 transferred to the University of Pavia.[2] He became a bitter rival of Lazzaro Spallanzani who was accused of stealing specimens from the Pavia museum. Spallanzani was tried and the prolonged trial resulted in acquittal. Shortly thereafter, Scopoli died of a stroke.[3] His last work was Deliciae Flora et Fauna Insubricae[4] (1786–88), which included scientific names for birds and mammals in northwestern Italy described by Pierre Sonnerat in the accounts of his voyages.
The plant alkaloid and drug scopolamine was first found in the genus Scopolia which is named after him. The standard botanical author abbreviation Scop. is applied to species he described.
Scopoli corresponded with Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist who set the foundations of modern taxonomy.[1] Scopoli communicated all of his research, findings, and descriptions (for example of the olm and the dormouse, two little animals hitherto unknown to Linnaeus). Linnaeus greatly respected him and showed great interest in his work. He named a solanaceous genus, Scopolia, the source of scopolamine, after him. Because of a great distance, they didn't ever meet.[5][6]
Works [edit]
- Flora Carniolica (1760) — a flora of Carniola, Austria (present Slovenia)[1].
- De Hydroargyro Idriensi Tentamina (1761) — a medical work on the symptoms of mercury poisoning among miners.
- Entomologia Carniolica Vienna: Trattner. (1763) — a major work on entomology containing many descriptions of new species.
- Joh. Ant. Scopoli der Arzneywissenschaft Doktors, Ihro... Majest. Cameralphysici in der Bergstadt Idria ... Einleitung zur Kenntniß und Gebrauch der Foßilien, Hartknoch4031 Göttingen : Niedersächsische Staats- und UniversitätsbibliothekRiga (1769). In German. Doctoral Thesis.
- Anni Historico-Naturales (1769—72) — This work included descriptions of new birds.
- Flora Carniolica exhibens plantas Carnioliae indigenas et distributas in classes, genera, species, varietates, ordine Linnaeano (1772). — A revised second edition of the first elaborate description of the flora of Krain, Austria, undertaken when Scopoli lived in Idrija. It has 66 plates engraved by J. F. Rein after original drawings by Scopoli. Whereas the unillustrated first edition of 1760 of 600 pages had no binary names for the plant species, this edition has binary names and is written in the Linnaean tradition in all other respects as well.
- Introductio ad historiam naturalem, sistens genera lapidum, plantarum et animalium hactenus detecta, caracteribus essentialibus donata, in tribus divisa, subinde ad leges naturae. Prague. (1777) – masterwork of natural history describing world genera and species.
- Fundamenta Botanica Praelectionibus publicis accomodata. Papiae, S. Salvatoris (1783)- A botanical classic with ten engraved plates each depicting ten to sixteen exact drawings.
- With Pierre Joseph Macquer, – Dizionario di chimica del Sig. Pietro Giuseppe Macquer…Tradotto dal francese e corredato di note e di nuovi articoli... Pavia: printed at the Monastery of San Salvatore for G. Bianchi (1783—84) -The chemist Joseph Macquer's Dictionnaire de chymie, the first dictionary of theoretical and general chemistry was written it in haste and concerned about his reputation, Macquer published it anonymously in 1766. Its huge success prompted the preparation of a revised second edition (1778). Then Scopoli translated and extensively augmented it. A second edition of the translated work, without fuurther additions was published in Venice in 1784–85.
- Deliciae Flora et Fauna Insubricae Ticini (1786–88) – an account including new descriptions of the birds and mammals collected by Pierre Sonnerat on his voyages.
Some taxa named by Scopoli [edit]
- Battus 1777 — Swallowtail butterfly (Papilionidae) genus, South America
- Rhagonycha fulva 1763 — a soldier beetle (Cantharidae), Europe
- Cucujus cinnaberinus 1763 — the flat bark beetle (Cucujidae), Europe
- Osmoderma eremita 1763 — the Hermit Beetle (Scarabaeidae), Europe
- Sargus bipunctatus 1763 — a soldier fly species (Diptera), Europe
- Bombus pascuorum 1763 — a bumble bee species (Hymenoptera), Europe
- Aphis fabae 1763 — bean aphid (Hemiptera), Worldwide
- Ordo Proboscidea 1763 — thrips, cicadas and Hemiptera: a major grouping proposed in Entomologia Carniolica
- Amanita caesarea — the edible and highly prized Caesar's mushroom
- Laccaria laccata — the deceiver mushroom
- Order Caudata — the salamanders: a major grouping of Amphibians
See "ITIS Taxon authors" for a full list Scopoli
Some taxa dedicated to Scopoli [edit]
- Cerambyx scopolii (Fuessly, 1775) – a longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae), Europe
- Dorcadion scopolii (Herbst, 1784) – a longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae), Europe
Notes [edit]
- ^ a b Soban, Branko. "A Living Bond between Idrija and Uppsala". The Slovenian. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
- ^ a b Newton, Alfred 1881. Scopoli's ornithological papers. The Willoughby Society. Scanned version
- ^ Mazzarello, Paolo 2004. Costantinopoli 1786: la congiura e la beffa. L'intrigo Spallanzani. Bollati Boringhieri
- ^ Insubria is a historical-geographical region which corresponds to the area inhabited in the past by the Insubres, a Celtic people which dwelt in the 4th–5th centuries BCE. in the area of pre-Alpine lakes and Milan.
- ^ Soban, Branko (January 2005). "A Living Bond between Idrija and Uppsala". Slovenija.svet. Slovene Emigrant Association. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
- ^ Scopoli, Giovanni Antonio. Joannes A. Scopoli-Carl Linnaeus. Dopisovanje/Correspondence 1760-1775, ed. Darinka Soban. Ljubljana, 2004: Slovenian Natural history society.
- ^ "Author Query for 'Scop.'". International Plant Names Index.
References [edit]
- Full list of biographies given by Gaedike, R. & Groll, E.K. eds. 2001 Entomologen der Welt (Biographien, Sammlungsverbleib). Datenbank, DEI Eberswalde im ZALF e.V
- Baker, D.B. 1999. The localities of Scopoli's Entomologia Carniolica (1763) Entomologist's Gazette, 50: 188–198.
- A Concise History of Ornithology, Michael Walters ISBN 1-873403-97-6
External links [edit]
- Short account and portrait
- Online version of Scopoli der Arzneywissenschaft Doktors..GDZ
- Online version of Entomologia Carniolica from GDZ
- "Johannes Antonius Scopoli", Historical Index of Mycologists, Illinois Mycological Society.
- [2] Full text of Scopoli's Ornithological papers from his Deliciae florae et faunae insubricae (Ticini: 1786–1788)
- Works by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli at the Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Gaedike, R.; Groll, E. K. & Taeger, A. 2012: Bibliography of the entomological literature from the beginning until 1863 : online database - version 1.0 - Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut.
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