Marquis Giacomo Doria (1 November 1840 – 19 September 1913) was an Italian naturalist,

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 ...

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

, and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was the founder of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale in

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 ...

in 1867, and director from then until his death."DORIA Giacomo". ''Archivio Storico Senato della Repubblica Italiana''
(in Italian). It is now named for him as the

Natural History Museum of Giacomo Doria The Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria is a natural history museum in Genoa, northern Italy. It is named after the naturalist Giacomo Doria, who was the founder and the curator for over forty years. The museum was founded in 1867 and c ...

. He collected numerous samples of plants, shells, butterflies, other insects and various animals in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

with Filippo de Filippi (1862–63), in

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

with

Odoardo Beccari Odoardo Beccari (16 November 1843 – 25 October 1920) was an Italian botanist famous for his discoveries in Indonesia, particularly New Guinea, and Australia. He has been called the greatest botanist to ever study Malesia. His author abbreviat ...

(1865–66), in the Red Sea (1879-1880) and in Tunisia (1881).Simon, Eugène (1882). "''I. Viaggio ad Assab nel mar Rosso, dei signori G. Doria ed O. Beccari con il R. Avviso "Esploratore" dal 16 Novembre 1879 al 26 Febbraio 1880. II. Étude sur les Arachnides du Yémen méridional'' ". ''Annali del Museo civico di storia naturale di Genova'' 18: 207-260. (in Italian and French, respectively). He was an avid

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

. In 1891 he was elected President of the Royal

Italian Geographical Society Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

. In the scientific field of

herpetology Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

, he described many new

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of amphibians and reptiles, including several he described with

Wilhelm Peters Wilhelm Karl Hartwich (or Hartwig) Peters (22 April 1815 in Koldenbüttel – 20 April 1883) was a German natural history, naturalist and explorer. He was assistant to the anatomist Johannes Peter Müller and later became curator of the Natural ...

. He is commemorated in the scientific names of eight reptiles: '' Agama doriae'', ''

Ptyas doriae Doria's green snake (''Ptyas doriae'') is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Asia. Etymology The specific name, ''doriae'', is in honor of Italian naturalist Giacomo Doria. Geographic range ''P. doriae'' is ...

'', '' Gonocephalus doriae'', '' Homalophis doriae'', ''

Latastia doriai ''Latastia doriai'', also known commonly as Doria's long-tailed lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to the Horn of Africa. There are three recognized subspecies. Geographic range ''L. doriai'' is ...

'', ''

Scincella doriae ''Scincella doriae'', also known commonly as Doria's ground skink and Doria's smooth skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is native to Southeast Asia. Etymology The specific name, ''doriae'', is in honor of Ita ...

'', ''

Stenodactylus doriae ''Stenodactylus doriae'', commonly known as Doria's comb-fingered gecko and the Middle Eastern short-fingered gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is native to Western Asia. Etymology The specific name, ''doriae ...

'', and ''

Tropidonophis doriae ''Tropidonophis doriae'', commonly known as the barred keelback, is a species of snake belonging to the family Colubridae. The species is native to New Guinea and some nearby islands. Etymology The specific name, ''doriae'', commemorates Ital ...

''. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Doria" pp. 74-75). Some other animals are named after him,

Doria's tree kangaroo Doria's tree-kangaroo (''Dendrolagus dorianus'') is a long-tailed, furry, bear-like mammal found only in tropical mountain forests on the island of New Guinea (in Papua New Guinea). It is one of the largest tree-kangaroos (genus ''Tree-kangaroo, ...

(''Dendrolagus dorianus''),

Doria's goshawk Doria's goshawk or Doria's hawk, (''Megatriorchis doriae'') is a raptor, the only member of the genus ''Megatriorchis''. Description At up to 69 cm long, it is among the biggest hawks in the broad sense. It is greyish-brown with a black-b ...

(''Megatriorchis doriae''), Doria's cave beetle (''

Duvalius doriae ''Duvalius doriae'', the Doria's Cave Beetle, is a species of beetle belonging to the family Carabidae. Etymology This species, the first blind beetle found in Italy, was discovered in 1858 in the cave of Cassana in the Eastern Liguria by the I ...

''), yellow Iranian scorpion ('' Odontobuthus doriae''), ''Doria's frog'' ('' Limnonectes doriae''), Doria's slug ('' Limax doriae''), a species of

harvestman The Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) are an order of arachnids colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs. , over 6,650 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide, although the total number of ext ...

('' Nelima doriae''), various species of weevils ('' Asytesta doriae'', '' Hoplopisthius doriae'', '' Rhinoscapha doriai'' and others). In 1891, the Italian explorer

Vittorio Bottego Vittorio Bottego (; Parma, 29 July 1860 – Dhaga Roba, 17 March 1897) was an Italian army officer and one of the first Western explorers of Jubaland in the Horn of Africa (now part of Gidami, West Wellega Ethiopia), where he led two expedition ...

named after Doria, the main tributary of the

Jubba River The Jubba River or Juba River ( so, Wabiga Jubba) is a river in southern Somalia which flows through the autonomous region of Jubaland. It begins at the border with Ethiopia, where the Dawa and Ganale Dorya rivers meet, and flows directly south ...

, that′s now called

Ganale Doria River The Ganale Doria River ( so, Webiga Janaale) (also transliterated as Genale Dorya) is a perennial river in southeastern Ethiopia. Rising in the mountains east of Aleta Wendo, the Ganale flows south and east to join with the Dawa at the border wi ...

. He was also

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Genoa for few months in 1891.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doria, Giacomo 1840 births 1913 deaths Italian mammalogists 19th-century Italian botanists Italian entomologists Mayors of Genoa Italian herpetologists People from La Spezia