Giuseppe Averani FRS or Averanus (March 20, 1662, Pisa – August 24, 1738,

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

) was an Italian jurist and naturalist.

Biography

The son of a mathematician, he studied arts and law at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

. His brother Benedetto Averani (1645-1707) was a prominent bibliophile and philologist of Florence, teaching Greek language at the University of Pisa. In 1685, Giuseppe was appointed to a professorship of civil law at Pisa, a post he held until his death. As a celebrated legal teachers in Tuscany, his pupils included leading figures of the Italian Enlightenment such as P. Neri, B. Tanucci, A. Tavanti and G.G. De Soria, as well as several traveling European princes. Together with Aulisio and Gravina, Averani was among the founders of

Neohumanism Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (21 May 1921 – 21 October 1990), also known by his spiritual name Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti (Ánanda Múrti="Bliss Embodiment"), and known as Bábá ("Father") to his disciples, was a spiritual Guru, philosopher, so ...

in Italy. He reformed Pisan legal studies on a

Humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

basis, setting an example to other Italian universities and forming the intellectual basis for the reforms of Tuscan Enlightenment statesmen in the second half of the 18th century. His principal work are the ''Interpretationes iuris civilis'', analyses of fragments of the Digests based on Cujas. Apart from law, Averani was active in

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

, philosophy and above all experimental physics. The results of his experiments, such as on light, odours, the electricity of bodies and with

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of ...

's air pump, were well received by contemporaries, including Newton. A member of scientific academies including the Crusca and the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, Averani founded the ''Accademia degli Oppressi'' (Academy of the Oppressed) to hold discussions on physics.

Works

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Manuscripts

References

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Biographical entry
website of the Institute and Museum of the History of Science, Florence, accessed January 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Averani, Giuseppe Italian jurists Italian naturalists 17th-century Italian philosophers 18th-century Italian philosophers Fellows of the Royal Society 1662 births 1738 deaths People from Pisa 18th-century jurists