''Cavaliere dottore'' Carlo Fornasini (3 November 185424 December 1931) was an Italian micropalaeontologist who specialised in
Foraminifera
Foraminifera (; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of amoeboid protists characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm for catching food and other uses; and commonly ...
('forams'). He was a pioneer in using fossil forams to sequence marine sedimentary deposits by their relative dates; Based on a study by Gian Battista Vai, ''ordinario'' (British English: lecturer; American English: professor) at the University of Bologna, and Director of the ''Museo Geologico Giovanni Capellini''. a technique called
biostratigraphy
Biostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy which focuses on correlating and assigning relative ages of rock strata by using the fossil assemblages contained within them.Hine, Robert. “Biostratigraphy.” ''Oxford Reference: Dictionary of B ...
.
Biography
He was the third son of Francesco Fornasini, a medical doctor, and his wife Carlotta ().
He studied natural sciences at the
University of Bologna
The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...
, under the guidance of
Giovanni Capellini
Giovanni Capellini (23 August 1833 – 28 May 1922) was an Italian geologist and paleontologist.
He was a Senator of the Kingdom of Italy in the seventeenth legislature.
Birth and education
Giovanni Capellini was born on 23 August 1833 in L ...
(1833-1922), the
Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
of Geology there. In 1877, he graduated with honours as ''dottore'' (in effect, PhD), on the basis of a
thesis
A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
which argued from the sequence of the fossil record that certain chalks, marls and clays in the
Savena
The Savena ( egl, label= Bolognese, Sèvna) is a river in the Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna regions of Italy. The source of the river is in the province of Florence west of Firenzuola in the Appennino Tosco-Emiliano mountains. The river flows north ...
valley near Bologna dated from the
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Ma) rather than, as had previously been thought (including by Capellini), from the
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
(23.0-5.3 Ma). That same year, Capellini published a paper about this discovery which relegated Fornasini's contribution to that of an assistant and which passed off Fornasini's conclusions as his own. That sort of behaviour has become unacceptable. In 1928, Michele Gortani (1883-1966), who had succeeded Capellini as Professor of Geology, wrote that "the Master had deprived his most promising student, Carlo Fornasini, of the pleasure and pride of announcing his discovery ..and the results of his studies" ( it, il Maestro aveva portato via al suo più promettente scolaro, Carlo Fornasini, il piacere e il vanto di annunciare la scoperta ..e i risultati dello studio). Furthermore, Capellini may not have properly understood Fornasini's ideas. This affair may explain why Fornasini published nothing for the next four years.
In 1881, Fornasini returned to palaeontology, possibly persuaded by his friend Lodovico Foresti (1829-1913, ''assistente'' (assistant) at the ''Museo Geologico'' in Bologna). In September and October 1881, he helped to organise, and he attended, the 2nd International Geological Congress in Bologna, which settled important international questions of nomenclature, standardisation and cooperation. When the was founded in Bologna during the Congress, under the leadership of Giuseppe Meneghini (1811-1889) and Capellini, he was one of the original members. He remained a member until at least 1922, and between 1883 and 1903 served several times as deputy secretary and as a member of its council. In 1883, he was appointed ''cavaliere'' (knight) in the Order of the Crown of Italy. In 1884, he became a corresponding member of the ''Reale Accademia del Poggio'' (nowadays, '),
Montevarchi
Montevarchi is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy.
History
The town of Montevarchi sprang up around 1100, near to a fortified Benedictine monastery, founded by bishop Elempert (986–1010) of Arezzo. At first the cas ...
. In 1885, he was one of the secretaries at the 3rd International Congress in Berlin; and in 1888, also at the 4th International Congress in London. In 1889, he was made an honorary member of the '' Reale Accademia delle scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna''. From 1894 until 1910, he was an ''amministratore'' (director) of the ''Accademia'' in Bologna. In 1895, he was appointed ''assistente'' at the ''Museo Geologico'', and in 1903 its ''conservatore'' (
curator
A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...
). In 1895, Fornasani and
Vittorio Simonelli
Vittorio Simonelli (May 1860, in Arezzo – 9 February 1929, in San Quirico d'Orcia) was an Italian geologist and paleontologist.
Biography
He studied natural sciences at the University of Pisa as a pupil of Giuseppe Meneghini. From 1883 he ta ...
(1860-1929) founded the journal ''Rivista italiana di paleontologia'' ('Italian Review of Palaeontology'). Fornasini was no longer one of the principal editors after 1896, but he is named on the title page as a ''collaboratore'' (collaborator, or co-worker, or contributing editor) until 1904. In 1900 he joined the of
Acireale
Acireale (; scn, Jaciriali, locally shortened to ''Jaci'' or ''Aci'') is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the north-east of the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy, at the foot of Mount Etna, on the coast facing the Ionian Sea. ...
, Sicily as a corresponding member. Poor health forced him to give up his scientific work by 1911. He nevertheless maintained an interest in his speciality, and donated his library and his collection of specimens to the ''Museo Geologico''.
He married Emilia Erhardt (at a date not determined), and they had two children: Carlo Francesco, a son, and Elsa, a daughter. He was mayor of
Poggio Renatico
Poggio Renatico ( Poggese: ; Ferrarese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ferrara in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northeast of Bologna and about southwest of Ferrara.
Poggio Renatico borders on the follo ...
, a ''
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...
'' (municipality) about northeast of Bologna, for almost 30 years. In 1902, he donated to Poggio Renatico the land on which the church of San Michele (
Saint Michael
Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
) now stands.
He is commemorated by a bronze plaque in the ''Museo Geologico''.
Scientific work
His main interest was always Foraminifera, on which he became a world authority. He worked mostly as an amateur scientist, independent of academic institutions.
He published chiefly in the journals (dates of earliest and latest papers in parentheses) ''Bollettino della Società geologica italiana'' (1883-1905), ''Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna'' (1889-1908), and ''Rivista italiana di paleontologia'' (1896-1903). He published more than sixty papers in those journals. They include a series of ten papers in ''Memorie'' entitled "Contributo alla conoscenza della Microfauna terziaria Italiana" ('Contribution to the Knowledge of Italian Microfauna of the
Tertiary
Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago.
The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
') (1889-1899), in which he attempted a critical analysis of all available information on the subject. That included identifying
synonymy
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
, where two or more scientists had unknowingly described the same species as new to science; an area of study as important in the advancement of
taxonomy
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
as the description of new species.
The
WoRMS Worms may refer to:
*Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs
Places
*Worms, Germany
Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had ...
database lists 78 species of Foraminifera described by him, all between 1883 and 1902. Some of those species have been reclassified into other genera. That is a commonplace occurrence in biology, if a later researcher either revises a genus, or describes a new genus and moves that species into it. However, the fact that Fornasini is still credited as
taxonomic authority
In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...
for 77 of those 78 species shows that he was a careful, accurate and knowledgeable observer.
Eponyms
The WoRMS database lists 18 species of Foraminifera whose specific epithet includes 'fornasini', all described between 1893 and 1948. They were most likely named in honour of Carlo Fornasini, but it would be necessary to consult the original descriptions to be certain.
''Fondazione Dott. Carlo Fornasini''
In 1964, his son Carlo Francesco donated land and money in his
will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
to set up in his father's memory the ''Fondazione Dott. Carlo Fornasini'' at Poggio Renatico. Its original aim was to encourage research into human
organ transplantation
Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organs may be transpor ...
, later expanded to the more general topic of social and human sciences, with particular regard to
ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...
and
bioethics
Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, m ...
.
Notes
References
Further reading
*
* Obituary by Michele Gortani (1883-1966), Professor of Geology at the University of Bologna.
*
*
*