Pietro Romualdo Pirotta (7 February 1853 – 3 August 1936) was an Italian professor of botany. He was made Knight of the Crown of Italy.

Biography

He enrolled in the faculty of medicine of the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

and then changed to the University's faculty of sciences, where he graduated in July 1875. He taught science at the liceo of Pistoia and simultaneously worked at the mycological laboratory which was part of the Botanical Institute of the University of Pavia, where he received his laurea (PhD). In 1879 he won a prize from the Institute of Mycology at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

. In Italy he was appointed to the professorial chair of botany at the

University of Modena The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia ( it, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia), located in Modena and Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, is one of the oldest universities in Italy, founded in 1175, with a population of 2 ...

and to the directorship of the botanical garden at Modena. In 1883 the minister Guido Baccelli appointed him Professor at the Department of Botany at the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a Public university, public research university l ...

, in which position he remained until 1928. Pirotta directed the creation of a new botanical institute in the garden attached to the convent of San Lorenzo in Panisperna. Pirotta was a founder of the publication of lAnnuario'' of the Royal Botanical Institute of Rome (subsequently named the ''Annali di Botanica''). He promoted the founding of the Colonial Herbarium (located in Rome from 1905 to 1915 and then in Florence).Piròtta, Pietro Romualdo nell'Enciclopedia Treccani
/ref> Pirotta identified the first outbreaks of ''

Plasmopara viticola ''Plasmopara viticola'', the causal agent of grapevine downy mildew, is a heterothallic oomycete that overwinters as oospores in leaf litter and soil. In the spring, oospores germinate to produce macrosporangia, which under wet condition release ...

'' (grapevine downy mildew) in Italy. In 1917–1922 he played a key role in the creation of the

National Park of Abruzzo Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park (Italian: ''Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise'') is an Italian national park established in 1923. The majority of the park is located in the Abruzzo region, with smaller parts in Lazio and Molise. It ...

. He served as president of the Italian Botanical Society. Pirotta was elected to the

Accademia dei Lincei The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rom ...

in 1901 and to the

Royal Academy of Italy The Royal Academy of Italy ( it, Reale Accademia d'Italia, italic=no) was a short-lived Italian academy of the Fascist period. It was created on 7 January 1926 by royal decree,See reference . but was not inaugurated until 28 October 1929. It was e ...

in 1929. A street in Rome is named in his honor.Via Pietro Romualdo Pirotta, Prenestino-Centocelle, Municipio Roma V, Roma, Roma, Lazio, Italia, cartogiraffe.com
/ref>

Sources

*Franco Pedrotti, ''Alle origini del Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo: le iniziative di Pietro Romualdo Pirotta'', (L’uomo e l’ambiente, 10),

Università degli Studi di Camerino The University of Camerino ( it, Università degli Studi di Camerino) is a university located in Camerino, Italy. It is the best university of Italy among those with fewer than 10,000 students, according to the Guida Censis Repubblica 2011 and 201 ...

, Camerino 1988; *Luigi Piccioni, ''Il volto amato della Patria. Il primo movimento per la protezione della natura in Italia, 1880-1934'', (L'uomo e l'ambiente, 32), Università degli Studi di Camerino 1999; *P.R. Pirotta, ''Il Parco nazionale dell’Abruzzo'', Federazione italiana delle associazioni Pro Montibus ed enti affini, Roma 1917.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pirotta, Pietro Romualdo Botanists with author abbreviations 19th-century Italian botanists 20th-century Italian botanists Members of the Royal Academy of Italy 1856 births 1936 deaths