Domenico Viviani (29 July 1772,

Levanto, Liguria Levanto (; lij, Lévanto or , locally ) is a (municipality) in the province of La Spezia in the Italian region of Liguria, located almost southeast of Genoa and about northwest of La Spezia. The town is on the coast at the mouth of a rive ...

– 15 February 1840,

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

) was an Italian

botanist 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 wo ...

and naturalist. In 1803, he was named professor of

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 ...

at the

University of Genoa 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 ...

, where he is credited with the founding of its

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

. He is known for his natural history studies (botany,

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...

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, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

) of the Ligurian region as well as botanical investigations of flora native to other areas of the Italian mainland,

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

,The discovery of the Sardinian Flora (XVIII-XIX Centuries)
by Pier Virgilio Arrigoni and

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

. In 1804,

Antonio José Cavanilles Antonio José Cavanilles (16 January 1745 – 5 May 1804) was a leading Spanish taxonomic botanist of the 18th century. He named many plants, particularly from Oceania. He named at least 100 genera, about 54 of which were still used in 2004, ...

named the botanical genus ''

Viviania ''Viviania'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Francoaceae. The genus is distributed across is Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay in southern South America. Known species As accepted by Kew; The genus name of ''Vivian ...

'' (of family

Vivianiaceae Vivianiaceae was a family of flowering plants placed in the order Geraniales. The family name is derived from the genus '' Viviania'' Cav. It includes both the genus ''Viviania'' and ''Balbisia''. The family is now wholly incorporated into the ...

, from southern South America) in his honor. He bequeathed his library of 2000 volumes from the 16th to the 19th century to King

Charles Albert of Sardinia Charles Albert (; 2 October 1798 – 28 July 1849) was the King of Sardinia from 27 April 1831 until 23 March 1849. His name is bound up with the first Italian constitution, the Albertine Statute, and with the First Italian War of Independence ...

, who in turn donated the books to the University of Genoa library. His

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

in Genoa was destroyed due to the ravages of war, however, some of his specimens can be located in other herbaria.

Published works

* "Annales Botanici", 1804. * ''Memoria sopra una nuova specie di minerale scoperta in Liguria'' - Treatise on a new mineral discovered in Liguria. * ''Catalogue des poissons de la rivière de Gênes et du Golfe de la Spezzia'', 1806 - Catalogue of the fishes of the coasts of the

Gulf of Genoa The Gulf of Genoa (''Golfo di Genova'') is the northernmost part of the Ligurian Sea. This Italian gulf is about wide from the city of Imperia in the west to La Spezia in the east. The largest city on its coast is Genoa, which has an importan ...

and

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

. * ''Voyage dans les Apennins de la ci-devant Ligurie pour servir d'introduction à l'Histoire Naturelle de ce pays'', 1807 - Travel in the

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

of Liguria to serve as an introduction to the natural history of this region. * "Florae Italicae fragmenta, seu Plantae rariores, vel nondum cognitae, in variis Italiae regionibus detectae, descriptionibus, et figuris llustratae", 1808. * "Florae Libycae specimen: sive, plantarum enumeratio Cyrenaicam, Pentapolim, Magnae Syrteos Desertum Et Regionem Tripolitanam Incolentium...", 1824. * "Flore Corsicae specierum novarum vel minus cognitarum diagnosis quam in Florae Italicae fragmentis alternis Prodromum exhibet", 1825. * ''I funghi d'Italia'', 1834 - A treatise on Italian

mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...

.Biodiversity Heritage Library
publications

References

* Parts of this article are based on translated text from equivalent articles at the French and Italian Wikipedia. 1772 births 1840 deaths 19th-century Italian botanists Italian naturalists Academic staff of the University of Genoa People from the Province of La Spezia 18th-century Italian botanists {{Italy-botanist-stub