Faustino Giovita Mariano Malaguti (15 February 1802 – 26 April 1878) was a chemist. Born in pre- unification Italy, he was exiled and took French citizenship in 1840.

Biography

Malaguti was born in Pragatto near Bologna, where his father Giuseppe Valerio was a pharmacist. After being schooled by Barnabites, he attended the University of Bologna, where he qualified as a pharmacist. He practiced his profession and was also hired by customs to investigate imported medicines. Malaguti took part in the

1831 uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...

against the authority of the Papal States, being named secretary in the provisional government. After the revolution was crushed by Austria, he was imprisoned in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and then exiled, settling in Paris. In 1833, Malaguti became an assistant to Théophile-Jules Pelouze at the École Polytechnique, and two years later he became a chemist at the Royal Porcelain Works in Sèvres. He wrote only two works on porcelain during his time there, instead dedicating himself to organic chemistry; he gained a doctorate in the area from Sorbonne University in 1839. In 1842, he became professor of chemistry at the University of Rennes. He became the university's dean in 1855 and the rector in 1866. Malaguti's lectures on agricultural chemistry were so highly regarded that they were subsidised by France's Ministry of Agriculture. He was an expert in the trial of the local serial killer by poison,

Hélène Jégado Hélène Jégado (1803 – 26 February 1852) was a French domestic servant and serial killer. She is believed to have murdered as many as 36 people with arsenic over a period of 18 years. After an initial period of activity, between 1833 a ...

. After being naturalised as a French citizen in 1840, he married Fanny Megissier, with whom he had a son, Carlo. He died in Rennes on 26 April 1878, aged 76. He is buried at the Nord Cemetery in Rennes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malaguti, Faustino 1802 births 1878 deaths People from the Metropolitan City of Bologna University of Bologna alumni Italian emigrants to France Naturalized citizens of France French people of Italian descent École Polytechnique alumni University of Paris alumni Academic staff of the University of Rennes Italian pharmacists French pharmacists 19th-century Italian chemists 19th-century French chemists