Anton Maria Salvini (1653–1729) was an Italian naturalist and

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

who lived in

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

. An accomplished

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, he is noted for his translations of texts in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.

Biography

Born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, at the age of 12, he began studies under

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

. Among his fellow students was future cardinal

Giovanni Battista Tolomei Giovanni Battista Tolomei, S.J., (3 December 1653 – 19 January 1726) was an Italian Jesuit priest, theologian, and cardinal. Life Tolomei was born of noble parentage at the ancestral castle of the Counts of Capraia ( la, Camberaia) in the ...

and future bishop of Florence, Ansaldo Ansaldi (1651–1719). In 1669, he was sent to the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

to study jurisprudence. He became a member of the ''Accademia degli Apatisti'', founded by Agostino Coltellini (1613-1693). At Pisa, he studied under Bartolomeo Cheti. In 1679, he graduated with a doctorate in canon and civil law. He was sent to work under a lawyer Andrea Poltri, but passed the time reading and studying texts. He was not functioning well or interested in being a lawyer, but he gained the reputation of a scholarly polyglot, knowing multiple languages. Francesco Redi is said to have commented that: ''Ei da un colmo bicchieri e traboccante/ in si dolce contegno il cuor mi tocca/Che por ridirlo no saria bastante/El mio Salvin, che ha tanta lingua in bocca.'' He befriended

Benedetto Menzini Benedetto Menzini (b. at Florence, 1646; d. at Rome, 7 September 1704) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and poet. In his satires he assails in acrid terms the hypocrisy prevailing in Tuscany in the last years of the Medici rule. Life His fam ...

and Carlo Dati, who had also studied under Redi. With the support of Cardinal Leopoldo de Medici, in 1677 he was appointed professor of Greek language at the Florentine Accademia. He was soon admitted as member of the prestigious Accademia della Crusca. In 1680, he took to the vestments of a secular abbott. He became a prolific translator of Greco-Roman classics.Antonio Maria Salvini: un Saggio critico-biografico
by Dr Carmelo Cordaro, Stabilimento Bertola and Co., Piacenza, 1903. Among Salvini's pupils was Antonio Francesco Gori. ''

Salvinia ''Salvinia'', a genus in the family Salviniaceae, is a floating fern named in honor of Anton Maria Salvini, a 17th-century Italian scientist. Watermoss is a common name for ''Salvinia''. The genus was published in 1754 by Jean-François Ségui ...

'', a genus of floating fern commemorates his name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salvini, Anton Maria Italian naturalists Italian classical scholars 17th-century Italian writers 1653 births 1729 deaths