Oronzo Gabriele Costa (26 August 1787,
Alessano
Alessano ( grc, Ἀλεξιανόν, Alexianón) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Lecce, part of Apulia region of south-east Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country ...
– 7 November 1867
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
) was an Italian
zoologist
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
.
At first a physician, he taught zoology at the
University of Naples. He wrote 126 papers on various subjects, principally
entomology
Entomology () is the science, 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 ...
, and in 1846 served as president of the
Accademia Pontaniana in Naples.
His two sons,
Achille Costa (1823-1899) and Giuseppe Costa, were also both well known zoologists.
Publications
There has been a good deal of confusion over the publication details of his most important work, the
''Fauna del Regno di Napoli'' (full title: ''Fauna del Regno di Napoli, ossia, enumerazione di tutti gli animali che abitano le diverse regioni di questo regno e le acque che le bagnano''), published over a long period of time, including
posthumously
Posthumous may refer to:
* Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death
* Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death
* ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987
* ''Posthumous'' (E ...
, in collaboration with his son,
Achille Costa. Taeger and Blank (1996; p. 253) state that for some of the work, Oronzio was merely the editor, Achille being the actual author, and whose name appears on the title page.
* Fauna Vesuviana (1827).
* Fauna di Aspromonte (1828).
* Fauna del Regno di Napoli 1829 – 1886 (continued after his death by
Achille Costa)
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
BiographyList of his books in BHLTexts of published work at GDZ (Göttinger DigitalisierungsZentrum) Göttingen State and University Library
The Göttingen State and University Library (german: Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen or SUB Göttingen) is the library for Göttingen University as well as for the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and is the state li ...
1787 births
1867 deaths
Italian zoologists
Italian entomologists
{{entomologist-stub