Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Brocchi (18 February 177225 September 1826) was an

Italia Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

n naturalist,

mineralogist 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 ...

and

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

Biography

Giovanni Battista Brocchi was born in

Bassano del Grappa Bassano del Grappa ( vec, Basan or ''Bassan'', ) is a city and ''comune'', in the Vicenza province, in the region of Veneto, in northern Italy. It bounds the communes of Cassola, Marostica, Solagna, Pove del Grappa, Romano d'Ezzelino, Campolongo ...

and studied jurisprudence at the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from B ...

, but his attention was turned to

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 ...

and

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 ...

. The Bassanese naturalist

Antonio Gaidon Antonio Gaidon (1738–1829), was an architect, urban planner and naturalist. Early life and training Antonio Gaidon was born in Castione di Brentonico (Trentino) in 1738. His parents were Salvatore and Barbara Burma, residents of Bassano del G ...

, guided him towards his first scientific studies and was Brocchi's first master in the geological and mineralogical disciplines. Gaidon introduced Brocchi to the naturalists

Giuseppe Olivi Giuseppe Olivi (18 March 1769 – 24 August 1795) was an Italian abbot and naturalist. He was born at Chioggia and was the author of ''Zoologia Adriatica'' (1792). He died in Padua when he was only 26. Biography Olivi was born in Chioggia in 17 ...

and

Alberto Fortis Alberto Fortis (1741–1803) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian writer, naturalist and cartographer. Life His real name was Giovanni Battista Fortis (his religious name was ''Alberto'') and he was born in Padua on either 9 or 11 of November 1741 ...

, the latter accompanying Brocchi on geological excursions in the Bassano area. In 1802 he was appointed professor of botany in the new lyceum of

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

; but he more especially devoted himself to geological researches in the adjacent districts. The fruits of these labors appeared in different publications, particularly in his ''Trattato mineralogico e chimico sulle miniere di ferro del dipartimento del Mella'' (1808) a treatise on the

iron mines Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the for ...

of the Mella traditional region. These researches procured him the office of inspector of mines in the recently established

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

, and enabled him to extend his investigations over a great part of the country. In 1811 Brocchi produced a valuable essay entitled ''Memoria mineralogica sulla

Valle di Fassa Valle may refer to: * Valle (surname) Geography *"Valle", the cultural and climatic zone of the dry subtropical Interandean Valles of the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and northwest Argentina *University of Valle, a public university in Cali, Colombia ...

in Tirolo''; but his most important work is the ''Conchiologia fossile subapennina con osservazioni geologiche sugli Apennini, e sul suolo adiacente'' (2 vols., Milan, 1814), containing accurate details of the structure of the Apennine range, and an account of the marine shell fossils of the Italian

Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

strata compared with existing species. These subjects were further illustrated by his geognostic map, and his ''Catalogo ragionato di una raccolta di rocce, disposto con ordine geografico, per servire alla geognosia dell' Italia'' (Milan, 1817). His work ''Dello stato fisico del suolo di Roma'' (1820), with its accompanying map, is likewise noteworthy. In it he corrected the erroneous views of

Scipione Breislak Scipione Breislak (1748 – 15 February 1826), Italy, Italian geologist of Sweden, Swedish parentage, was born in Rome in 1748. He distinguished himself as a professor of mathematical and mechanical philosophy in the college of Ragusa, Italy, Ra ...

, who conceived that Rome occupies the site of a

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

, to which he ascribed the volcanic materials that cover the seven hills. Brocchi pointed out that these materials were derived either from Monte Albano, an extinct volcano, twelve miles from the city, or from the

Monti Cimini The Monti Cimini, in English: Cimini Hills, are a range of densely wooded volcanic hills approximately north-west of Rome. They are part of the Antiapennine range, facing the Apennine Mountains, Apennines main range towards the Tyrrhenian Sea. ...

, still farther to the north. In 1814 Brocchi presented the thesis that species, like individuals, age and eventually die out — an idea that later influenced

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

. Several papers by him, on mineralogical subjects, appeared in the '' Biblioteca Italiana'' from 1816 to 1823. In the latter year, Brocchi sailed for

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, in order to explore the geology of that country and report on its mineral resources. Every facility was granted by

Mehemet Ali Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha, also known as Muhammad Ali of Egypt and the Sudan ( sq, Mehmet Ali Pasha, ar, محمد علي باشا, ; ota, محمد علی پاشا المسعود بن آغا; ; 4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849), was ...

, who in 1825 appointed him one of a commission to examine the territory of the recently conquered

Kingdom of Sennar The Funj Sultanate, also known as Funjistan, Sultanate of Sennar (after its capital Sennar) or Blue Sultanate due to the traditional Sudanese convention of referring to black people as blue () was a monarchy in what is now Sudan, northwestern E ...

; but Brocchi fell a victim to the climate, and died at

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

on the 25th of September 1826, possibly of

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

."Brocchi, Giovanni Battista". Dizionario biografico Treccani (1972)
/ref> Much of his writings and collections are now housed in the

Museo Civico di Bassano The Museo Civico di Bassano del Grappa is the town art and architecture museum located on Piazza Garibaldi #34 in Bassano del Grappa, in the Vicenza province of the region of the Veneto, in northern Italy. It is housed in a former Franciscan conven ...

Biography

References

Further reading