Domenico Maria Leone Cirillo
FRS (
Grumo Nevano
Grumo Nevano is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Campania region of Italy, with 17,939 inhabitants.
Physical geography
Bordering the Province of Caserta and located north of the Metropolitan City of N ...
,
Kingdom of Naples 10 April 1739
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
29 October 1799) was an Italian
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
,
entomologist,
botanist and patriot.
Professional life
Appointed while still young to a botanical professorship, Cirillo went for some years to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, where he was elected
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
, and to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. On his return to Naples he was appointed to the chair of medical practice and afterwards to the chair of theoretical medicine. He wrote copiously on scientific subjects and had practiced medicine extensively.
He was the teacher of the future military doctor
Antonio Savaresi.
Cirillo's favorite study was
botany
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
. He was known as an
entomologist by
Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
. He wrote many books in Latin and Italian, all of them treatises on medical and scientific subjects. The is a philosophical pamphlet remarkable for both its learning and style. He introduced many medical innovations to Naples, particularly
inoculation against
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
.
As well as several works on
hygiene
Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...
he also wrote:
* , Naples, 1771
*
*
* , Naples, 1787 – 1792
Patriot and refugee
With French help the
Parthenopean Republic
The Parthenopean Republic ( it, Repubblica Partenopea, french: République Parthénopéenne) or Neapolitan Republic (''Repubblica Napoletana'') was a short-lived, semi-autonomous republic located within the Kingdom of Naples and supported by the ...
was established in January 1799, causing the monarch and his government to flee to Sicily. After at first refusing to take part in the new government, Cirillo consented to be chosen as a representative of the people and became a member of the legislative commission, of which he was eventually elected president. By June of the same year, the republic collapsed when the French withdrew and the city was overtaken by
Cardinal Ruffo's counter-revolutionary Sanfedista army.
Ferdinand IV's army returned to Naples, and the republicans withdrew to the forts, ill-armed and with inadequate provisions. After a short siege the Republicans surrendered on what they considered honorable terms: life and liberty being guaranteed them by the signatures of Ruffo, of Foote, and of Micheroux.
The arrival of
Lord Nelson
Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought a ...
changed the state of affairs, and he refused to ratify the capitulation. Secure under the British flag, Ferdinand and his wife,
Marie Caroline of Austria
Maria Carolina Louise Josepha Johanna Antonia (13 August 1752 – 8 September 1814) was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. As ''de facto'' ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the p ...
, showed themselves eager for revenge, and Cirillo joined other republicans in fighting back.
Cirillo wrote to
Emma, Lady Hamilton
Dame Emma Hamilton (born Amy Lyon; 26 April 176515 January 1815), generally known as Lady Hamilton, was an English maid, model, dancer and actress. She began her career in London's demi-monde, becoming the mistress of a series of wealthy me ...
(wife of the British ambassador to Naples) asking her to intercede on his behalf, but Nelson wrote of the petition: "Domenico Cirillo, who had been the King's physician, might have been saved, but that he chose to play the fool and lie, denying that he had ever made any speeches against the government, and saying that he only took care of the poor in the hospitals".
He was condemned to death, and hanged on 29 October 1799.
![Targa Domenico Cirillo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Targa_Domenico_Cirillo.jpg)
Today
Grumo Nevano
Grumo Nevano is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Campania region of Italy, with 17,939 inhabitants.
Physical geography
Bordering the Province of Caserta and located north of the Metropolitan City of N ...
, his hometown, has name a school after him (now the Institute Comprehensive Matteotti-Cirillo), erected a statue in the central square of the town, and named a library "Biblioteca Comunale Domenico Cirillo". The state boarding school in
Bari and the High School of
Aversa in
Caserta
Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial '' comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Ca ...
are also named for him.
Works
![Cirillo, Domenico – De essentialibus nonnullarum plantarum characteribus commentarius, 1784 – BEIC 6934542](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Cirillo%2C_Domenico_%E2%80%93_De_essentialibus_nonnullarum_plantarum_characteribus_commentarius%2C_1784_%E2%80%93_BEIC_6934542.jpg)
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cirillo, Domenico
1739 births
1799 deaths
People from the Province of Naples
People executed by hanging
Italian entomologists
Executed Italian people
People executed by the Kingdom of Naples
18th-century executions
18th-century Italian botanists
People of the Parthenopean Republic