Francesco Ambrosi (November 17, 1821 – 9 April 1897) 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 ...

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology) ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

Biography

Ambrosi was born to a family of

herders A herder is a pastoral worker responsible for the care and management of a herd or flock of domestic animals, usually on open pasture. It is particularly associated with nomadic or transhumant management of stock, or with common land grazing. ...

Borgo Valsugana Borgo Valsugana (''El Bórgo'' in local dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about east of Trento. Borgo Valsugana borders the following municipalities: Telve, ...

, the present day Italian province of

Trentino Trentino ( lld, Trentin), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento, is an autonomous province of Italy, in the country's far north. The Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, an autonomous region ...

at that time part of the (Princely)

County of Tyrol The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with the secularised pr ...

, a

crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

. He was not able to attend school, but he pursued self-taught studies in the natural sciences, history, philosophy and, in particular, botany. He devoted himself to botany by studying under Francesco Angelo Facchini and Casimiro Sartorelli, focusing on the flora of the Trentino region. He published many scientific works, notably, in 1851, ''Prospetto delle specie zoologiche conosciute nel Trentino''. In 1853 he married Elisa Zanollo, and the couple would have eight children together, though five of died in infancy. In 1854 he began publishing the journal ''La flora del Tirolo meridionale'', which was discontinued in 1857 before he was able to complete the detailed list, after a fire destroyed his house in the city of

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th centu ...

, including all his archives and collections. In 1864, Ambrosi was appointed director of both the Trento Public Library and the adjoining Trento Museum of Natural Sciences. In that role, he was able to facilitate a series of initiatives, including the establishment of a chair for the teaching of Italian history and literature in 1869, and the publication of the periodical ''Historical Archive for Istria, Trieste and Trento'' from 1881. He became close friends with Fortunato Vincenzo Zeni, one of the founders of the ''Museo civico di

Rovereto Rovereto (; "wood of sessile oaks"; locally: ''Roveredo'') is a city and ''comune'' in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River. History Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the frontier b ...

'', and worked with German scholar

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th cent ...

to expand his expertise on, and organize his collection of epigraphs. Ambrosi's work at the library and museum could consume his attention for the remaining decades of his life, reducing his study of botany while increasing his focus on history, geography and anthropology. He facilitated the expansion of the library to a collection of forty thousand volumes. Because of his patriotic and pro-Italian sentiments, in 1881 Ambrosi was tried, by the Austro-Hungarian government, on charges of breaking press laws, for holding in the library a volume censored by the public security authorities. Ambrosi was a member of several scientific, cultural, national and international institutions, including the

Société botanique de France The Société botanique de France (SBF) is a French learned society founded on 23 April 1854. At its inaugural meeting it stated its purpose as "to contribute to the progress of botany and related sciences and to facilitate, by all means at its di ...

, the ''Accademia Roveretana degli Agiati'' in nearby

, and the

Società degli Alpinisti Tridentini The (SAT) is an alpine club operating in the Italian alpine province of Trento. It is the largest branch of the Italian Alpine Club. History SAT was founded in Madonna di Campiglio on 2 September 1872 under the name of Alpine Society of Tre ...

. He also became interested in zoology, writing some memoirs about birds and an important treatise on the Trentino bear.F. Ambrosi, ''L'orso nel Trentino: Cenni storico-naturali'', Scotoni e Vitti, Trento 1889 Ambrosi left his duties in late 1896, suffering from cardiovascular disease, which led to his death on April 9, 1897.

Biography

References

See also