Prospero Alpini (also known as Prosper Alpinus, Prospero Alpinio and Latinized as Prosperus Alpinus) (23 November 15536 February 1617)
was a Venetian
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
and
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 ...
. He travelled around Egypt and served as the fourth prefect in charge of the botanical garden of Padua. He wrote several botanical treatises which covered exotic plants of economic and medicinal value. His description of coffee and banana plants are considered the oldest in European literature. The ginger-family genus ''
Alpinia
''Alpinia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is named for Prospero Alpini, a 17th-century Italian botanist who specialized in exotic plants. Species are native to Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, whe ...
'' was named in his honour by
Carolus Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...
.
Biography
Born at
Marostica
Marostica (; vec, Maròstega ), is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy. It is mostly famous for its live chess event and for the local cherry variety.
History
Between the 11th and 13th centuries, the loca ...
, a town near
Vicenza
Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan.
Vicenza is a th ...
, the son of Francesco, a physician, Alpini served in his youth for a time in the
Milanese
Milanese (endonym in traditional orthography , ') is the central variety of the Western dialect of the Lombard language spoken in Milan, the rest of its metropolitan city, and the northernmost part of the province of Pavia. Milanese, due to ...
army, but in 1574 he went to study medicine at
Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
. After taking his doctor's degree in 1578, he settled as a physician in Campo San Pietro, a small town in the Paduan territory. But his tastes were botanical and influenced by Melchiorre Guilandino, and to extend his knowledge of exotic plants he travelled to
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 1580 as physician to George Emo or Hemi, the Venetian consul in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
. The position was obtained with help from Antonio Morosini. From 1587 to 1590 he worked in Venice, Bassano and then at Genoa as physician to
Giovanni Andrea Doria
Giovanni Andrea Doria, also known as Gianandrea Doria, (1539–1606), was an Italian admiral from Genoa.
Biography
Doria was born to a noble family of the Republic of Genoa. He was the son of Giannettino Doria, of the Doria family, who died whe ...
.
In
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 ...
he spent three years, and from a practice in the management of
datepalm
''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle Ea ...
s, which he observed in that country, he learned of sexual difference in plants, which was later to become important in the foundation of the
Linnaean taxonomy
Linnaean taxonomy can mean either of two related concepts:
# The particular form of biological classification (taxonomy) set up by Carl Linnaeus, as set forth in his ''Systema Naturae'' (1735) and subsequent works. In the taxonomy of Linnaeus t ...
system. He says that "the female date-trees or palms do not bear fruit unless the branches of the male and female plants are mixed together; or, as is generally done, unless the dust found in the male sheath or male flowers is sprinkled over the female flowers".
On his return, he resided for some time at
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 ...
as physician to
Andrea Doria
Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; lij, Drîa Döia ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was a Genoese statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime.
As the ruler of Genoa, Doria reformed the Repu ...
, and in 1593 he was appointed professor of botany at Padua. In 1603, following the death of
Giacomo Antonio Cortuso (1513-1603), he was appointed prefect for the botanical garden at Padua. His knowledge of medicinal plants made him a much sought after physician consulted by others such as Fabrici of Acquapendente and Alessandro Massaria. Towards the end of his life he suffered from arthritis, skin inflammation and
receptive aphasia
Wernicke's aphasia, also known as receptive aphasia, sensory aphasia or posterior aphasia, is a type of aphasia in which individuals have difficulty understanding written and spoken language. Patients with Wernicke's aphasia demonstrate fluent s ...
. He died on 6 February 1617 and is buried in the Basilica of Saint Antonio. He was succeeded in the botanical chair by his son Alpino Alpini (died 1637).
Books
Alpini's best-known botanical work is ''De Plantis Aegypti liber'' (Venice, 1592).
This work introduced a number of plant species previously unknown to European botanists including ''
Abrus
''Abrus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae and the only genus in the tribe Abreae. It contains 13–18 species, but is best known for a single species: jequirity ('' A. precatorius''). The highly toxic seeds of that ...
,
Abelmoschus
''Abelmoschus'' is a genus of about fifteen species of flowering plants in the mallow family (Malvaceae), native to tropical Africa, Asia and northern Australia. It was formerly included within ''Hibiscus'', but is now classified as a distinct ...
,
Lablab
''Lablab purpureus'' is a species of bean in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Africa and it is cultivated throughout the tropics for food. ,'' and ''
Melochia,'' each of which are native to tropical areas and were cultivated with artificial irrigation in Egypt at the time. Other species included ''Sesban'' ''
Sesbania sesban
''Sesbania sesban'', the Egyptian riverhemp, is a species of plant in the legume family.
Synonym (taxonomy), Synonyms include:
*''Aeschynomene aegyptiaca'' (Pers.) Steud.
*''Aeschynomene sesban'' Carl Linnaeus, L.
*''Emerus sesban'' (Carl Linna ...
'' and the
baobab
''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Tropic ...
tree (which he spelled ''bahobab''). Early adopters of Alpini's new botanical names included the botanists
Carolus Clusius
Charles de l'Écluse, L'Escluse, or Carolus Clusius (19 February 1526 – 4 April 1609), seigneur de Watènes, was an Artois doctor and pioneering botanist, perhaps the most influential of all 16th-century scientific horticulturists.
Life
Clu ...
(died 1609),
Johann Bauhin
Johann (or Jean) Bauhin (12 December 1541 – 26 October 1613) was a Swiss botanist, born in Basel. He was the son of physician Jean Bauhin and the brother of physician and botanist Gaspard Bauhin.
Biography
Bauhin studied botany at the Univers ...
(died 1613),
Caspar Bauhin
Gaspard Bauhin or Caspar Bauhin ( la, Casparus Bauhinus; 17 January 1560 – 5 December 1624), was a Swiss botanist whose ''Pinax theatri botanici'' (1623) described thousands of plants and classified them in a manner that draws comparisons to t ...
(died 1624) and
Johann Veslingius
Johann Vesling (Latin: Veslingius) (1598 – 30 August 1649) was a German anatomist and botanist from Minden, Westphalia. He published a major illustrated work on human anatomy ''Syntagma Anatomicum'' (1641).
Life and work
Vesling was born i ...
(visited Egypt in the 1620s; died 1649).
Prospero Alpini's ' was published in 1629 after his death. It has an expansion of the material in ' plus some other material. His ''De Plantis Aegypti liber'' is said to contain the first account of the
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
plant published in Europe although the German traveller
Leonhard Rauwolf
Leonhard Rauwolf (also spelled Leonhart Rauwolff) (21 June 1535 – 15 September 1596) was a German physician, botanist, and traveller. His main notability arises from a trip he made through the Levant and Mesopotamia in 1573–75. The motive of t ...
tasted coffee at
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize =
, map_caption =
, image_map1 =
...
in 1573 and described its effects in 1582. His book ''De balsamo dialogus'' (1581, 1592) was among the first books to specialize on a single group of plants. He wrote on the prognosis of diseases in his ''De praesagienda vita et morti aegrotanti'' (1601) which led
Kurt Sprengel
Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel (3 August 1766 – 15 March 1833) was a German botanist and physician who published an influential multivolume history of medicine, ''Versuch einer pragmatischen Geschichte der Arzneikunde'' (1792–99 in four vol ...
to consider him as a modern father of diagnostic science. Another work that took nearly a decade was the ''De medicina methodica libri tredecim'' (1611) which sought a revival of the
Methodic school
The Methodic school of medicine (''Methodics'', ''Methodists'', or ''Methodici'', el, Μεθοδικοί) was a school of medicine in ancient Greece and Rome. The Methodic school arose in reaction to both the Empiric school and the Dogmatic scho ...
of medicine.
His works ''De plantis exoticis'' and the ''Rerum Aegyptiarum libri IV'' were published posthumously.
The genus ''
Alpinia
''Alpinia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is named for Prospero Alpini, a 17th-century Italian botanist who specialized in exotic plants. Species are native to Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, whe ...
'', belonging to the order
Zingiberaceae
Zingiberaceae () or the ginger family is a family of flowering plants made up of about 50 genera with a total of about 1600 known species of aromatic perennial herbs with creeping horizontal or tuberous rhizomes distributed throughout tropical Af ...
(ginger family), was named after him by
Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
.
Works
* ''De balsamo dialogus'', 1581, 1592.
* ''De medicina Aegyptiorum'', 1591.
* ''De plantis Aegypti'', Venice, 1592.
* ''De praesagienda vita et morte aegrotantium'', 1601.
* ''De medicina methodica'', 1611.
*', 1629.
*''Rerum Aegyptiarum libri IV'', 1735.
*
*
References
External links
* ''Prosperi Alpini De Balsamo dialogus'' . Franciscus de Franciscis, Venitiis 159
Digital editionby the
University and State Library Düsseldorf
The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...
* ''Prosperi Alpini De medicina Aegyptiorum : libri quatuor ; in quibus Multa cum de vario mittendi Sanguinis Usu per Venas, Arterias, Cucurbitulas, ac Scarificationes nostris inusitatas, deq
eInustionibus, & alijs chyrurgicis Operationibus, tum de quamplurimis Medicamentis apud Aegyptios frequentioribus, elucescunt'' . Franciscus de Franciscis, Venetiis 159
Digital editionby the
University and State Library Düsseldorf
The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...
* ''Prosperi Alpini De Plantis Aegypti liber : in quo non pauci, qui circa Herbarum Materiam irrepserunt, Errores, deprehenduntur, quorum Causa hactenus multa Medicamenta ad Usum Medicinae admodum expetenda, plerisque Medicorum, non sine Artis Iactura, oculta, atque obsoleta iacuerunt''. Franciscus de Franciscis, Venitiis 159
Digital editionby the
University and State Library Düsseldorf
The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...
''De Plantis Exoticis'' by Prosperi Alpini, year 1629, in Latin.
''De Plantis Aegypti liber'' by Prosperi Alpini with comments by
Johann Vesling
Johann Vesling (Latin: Veslingius) (1598 – 30 August 1649) was a German anatomist and botanist from Minden, Westphalia. He published a major illustrated work on human anatomy ''Syntagma Anatomicum'' (1641).
Life and work
Vesling was born in ...
, published year 1640, in Latin.
Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma LibrariesHigh resolution images of works by and/or portraits of Prospero Alpini in .jpg and .tiff format. Includes some pages from the 1592 edition of ''De Plantis Aegypti liber''.
De praesagienda vita et morte aegrotantium libri septem (1754)* ''De Plantis Aegypti'', by Prosperi Alpini
Latin transcription and English translationwith notes on the grammar and the orthography of the text, by Ian L. Plamondon, published 2016
Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection Arizona State University.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alpini, Prospero
1553 births
1617 deaths
People from Marostica
Botanists active in Egypt
16th-century Italian botanists
16th-century Italian physicians
17th-century Italian botanists