Antonino Salinas (19 November 1841 - 7 March 1914) was an Italian archaeologist and numismatist.

Life

Born in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

and educated in strict scientific methods from a young age, he entered the Jurisprudence Faculty at the University of Palermo in 1856 but joined the Southern Army after Garibaldi landed at Marsala four years later. On 13 July 1860 Salinas was made a sottotenente in the artillery, fighting at Volturno and Capua before being demobbed in January 1861 and granted a bronze medal in 1862. He returned to work in Palermo's city archives, publishing his first works - these were on his main passion of numismatics.Spatafora, cit. In

1862 Events January–March * January 1 – The United Kingdom annexes Lagos Island, in modern-day Nigeria. * January 6 – French intervention in Mexico: French, Spanish and British forces arrive in Veracruz, Mexico. * January ...

, for a year, he went to the Humboldt University of Berlin to complete his education, taking courses in archaeology taught by

Eduard Gerhard Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Gerhard (29 November 1795 – 12 May 1867) was a German archaeologist. He was co-founder and secretary of the first international archaeological society. Biography Gerhard was born at Posen, and was educated at Bresla ...

, cartography by Heinrich Kiepert and history by Theodor Mommsen. He then took long study trips to Vienna, Athens (where he took part in the Missione Italiana's first excavations at the Ceramico necropoli) and Paris before returning to Italy. There he was made extraordinary professor of archaeology at the University of Palermo in 1865, aged only 24, transmitting what he had learned in Berlin to his students. In

1867 Events January–March * January 1 – The Covington–Cincinnati Suspension Bridge opens between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky, in the United States, becoming the longest single-span bridge in the world. It was renamed a ...

he became ordinary professor of archaeology and later served a term as the university's

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the University of Palermo (1903-1904). He also served two terms as president of Palermo's Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia (1880-1882 and 1893-1894) as well as becoming city counsellor and assessor to the Istruzione del Comune di Palermo. From 1873 to his death he served as director of Palermo's Museo Nazionale, which was later renamed after him. He took part in excavations at Mozia, Tindari,

Selinunte Selinunte (; grc, Σελῑνοῦς, Selīnoûs ; la, Selīnūs , ; scn, Silinunti ) was a rich and extensive ancient Greek city on the south-western coast of Sicily in Italy. It was situated between the valleys of the Cottone and Modion ...

and elsewhere on Sicily, finding four archaic metopes at Selinunte, which were moved to the Museo Nazionale. He was also made superintendent for the provinces of Palermo, Trapani, Girgenti and

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

, becoming particularly noted for saving and curating artworks after the

1908 Messina earthquake The 1908 Messina earthquake (also known as the 1908 Messina and Reggio earthquake) occurred on 28 December in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy with a moment magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). The epicen ...

. He was one of the founders of the

Italian Numismatic Institute The Italian Numismatic Institute (''Istituto italiano di numismatica'') is an Italian body for the study of numismatics, based in Palazzo Barberini at 13 Quattro Fontane, via Quattro Fontane. History It was founded in Rome in 1912 as a private as ...

and served as its president from 1912 until his death. He was elected a national 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 ...

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

.Fabrizio Vistoli
"Antonino Salinas"
in ''Dizionario biografico degli italiani'', vol. 89, Roma, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2017 He left his private collection to the Museo Nazionale on his death in Rome in 1914, including several books and around 6000 coins - it held a biographical exhibition on him on the centenary of his death. He was buried in the Santa Maria di Gesù Cemetery in Palermo. 2017 saw the publication of a collection of his numismatic writings, edited by the numismatist Luca Lombardi.

Works

* ''I monumenti sepolcrali scoperti presso la chiesa della Santa Trinità in Atene''. Torino 1863. * ''Le monete delle antiche città di Sicilia''. Palermo, 1870. * ''Suggelli siciliani del medioevo'', Palermo, 1871 * ''Del Museo nazionale di Palermo e del suo avvenire''. Palermo, 1874. *
Ricordi storici delle rivoluzioni siciliane del secolo XIX
'. Palermo, 1886. * ''Le monete delle antiche città di Sicilia descritte e illustrate'', Palermo, 1922 * ''Scritti scelti'' (edited by Vincenzo Tusa), II voll., Palermo, 1976-1977 * ''Scritti scelti di numismatica'' (edited by Giuseppe Ruotolo and Luca Lombardi), Biblionumis, Bari 2017, pp. 112, 5 tavv., cm 30 x 22.

References

Bibliography

Works by Antonio Salinas
on ''openMLOL''
Works by Antonio Salinas
on '' Persée''
Works by Antonio Salinas
on '' Open Library'' * Vincenzo Tusa, ''Antonio Salinas nella cultura palermitana'', Palermo, 1978
Francesca Spatafora e Lucina Gandolfo,''Il Salinas ricorda Salinas 1914-2014'', Palermo, 2014
* Fabrizio Vistoli, ''Una mostra, un catalogo, un’ipoteca sul futuro. Ancora su Antonino Salinas e il Museo archeologico di Palermo'', in ''Atti e Memorie della Società Magna Grecia'', s. V, I, 2016

017 Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese ...

pp. 183-224. * * A. Salinas
''L'Annunziata d'Antonello di Messina lasciata al Museo Nazionale di Palermo''
Bollettino d'Arte, 2, 1907 {{DEFAULTSORT:Salinas, Antonio Archaeologists from Palermo category:Italian numismatists category:Directors of museums in Italy category:University of Palermo alumni category:University of Palermo faculty category:Humboldt University of Berlin alumni category:1914 deaths category:1841 births Members of the Lincean Academy category:People of the Wars of Italian Independence