Arturo Issel (

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

April 11, 1842 –

November 27, 1922) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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, althoug ...

palaeontologist 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 fossi ...

malacologist Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, ...

and archaeologist, born in

. He is noted for first defining the

Tyrrhenian Stage ::''This is a Geological time scale article, for archaeology, see Etruscan civilization'' The Tyrrhenian Stage is the last faunal stage of the Pleistocene in Italy. It runs from 0.26 million (260,000) to 0.01143 million (11,430) years ago. It ove ...

in 1914. Issel was also renowned at the time for his work on codifying information within anthropology and ethnology, for which he is still remembered.Puccini, Sandra (1988) "Elio Modigliani: Esplorare, osservare, raccogliere nell'esperienza di un etnografo dell'Ottocento" ''La Ricerca Folklorica'' No. 18 (subtitled: ''A sud dell'occidente. Viaggi, missioni e colonie della vecchia Italia'') pp. 25-40, pp. 27-28 In 1865, he was searching for the presence of

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While the ...

man in Malta. During one of his excursions in Dalam Valley (''Wied Dalam''), he came across a cave, Għar Dalam, half filled with soil and used as a cattle-pen. Issel thought that an excavation at the site could prove fruitful. He dug a trench in the cave’s loose soil and found prehistoric human remains (from approximately 5000 to 4100 BC), and a burnt

hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...

bone. Issel participated in several expeditions to East Africa, including one led by

Orazio Antinori Orazio Antinori (28 October 1811 – 26 August 1882) was an Italian explorer and zoologist. Antinori was born in Perugia (then in the Papal States) and studied natural history in Perugia and Rome. Afterwards he collaborated with Charles Lucien Bo ...

and

Odoardo Beccari Odoardo Beccari (16 November 1843 – 25 October 1920) was an Italian botanist famous for his discoveries in Indonesia, particularly New Guinea, and Australia. He has been called the greatest botanist to ever study Malesia. His author abbrev ...

in 1870. He was appointed professor of Geology at the

University of Genova The University of Genoa, known also with the acronym UniGe ( it, Università di Genova), is one of the largest universities in Italy. It is located in the city of Genoa and regional Metropolitan City of Genoa, on the Italian Riviera in the Liguri ...

in 1866. Issel was a close correspondent with anthropologist Elio Modigliani, and helped promulgate Modigliani's ideas. Issel's son, Raffaele Issel, followed in his footsteps and was appointed professor of

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

at the

in 1923. The Issel Bridge, an

undersea ridge A mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It typically has a depth of about and rises about above the deepest portion of an ocean basin. This feature is where seafloor spreading takes place along a diverge ...

separating parts of the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian pe ...

, and the Issel Seamount were named in Arturo Issel's honor. The mineral isselite is also named in his honor.

Bibliography

* Issel A. (1874)
''Molluschi Borneensi''
Genova, Tipografia del R. Instituto Sordo-Muti * Issel A. (1869)
''Malacologia del Mar Rosso. Ricerche zoologiche e paleontologiche''
Pisa, pp. I-XI, 1-387, Plates I-V * Giglioli E. H. & Issel A. (1884)
''Pelagos, saggi sulla vita e sui prodotti del mare''
Genova, Tipografia del R. Istituto de' Sordo-Muti

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Issel, Arturo 1842 births 1922 deaths Archaeologists from Genoa 19th-century Italian geologists 19th-century Italian zoologists Italian malacologists Italian paleontologists 19th-century archaeologists 20th-century Italian geologists 20th-century archaeologists