Antonio Cocchi (3 August 1695 – 1 January 1758) was an Italian

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 ...

, naturalist and writer. He was best known for his work on

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having i ...

Biography

Cocchi was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...

in 1736, his candidature citation describing him as "''a very noted & Skilfull (sic) Physician at Florence, and formerly Professor of Physic and Philosophy in the University of Pisa, desirous of being elected into this Honourable Society; he is a Gentleman of very distinguished merit both in his profession and all other parts of Natural & Philosophical Learning; he is the Author of Several Books and is now publishing some Greek Medical Writers never before printed from the MSS in the Laurentian Library; he is also at this time Secretary to a Society newly Set up at Florence very much on the Same foot as the Royal Society is here''" Cocchi spent three years in England, where he knew

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, Theology, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosophy, natural philosopher"), widely ...

. Although offered a position by the

Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton). The title was fi ...

, he returned to teach in Tuscany. Cocci was also a

classical scholar Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

, producing the

first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...

of the '' Ephesian Tale'', a novel by Xenophon of Ephesus, as well as other work on Greek romances. His ''Discorso primo sopra Asclepiade'' (1758), on

Asclepiades of Bithynia Asclepiades ( el, Ἀσκληπιάδης; c. 129/124 BC – 40 BC), sometimes called Asclepiades of Bithynia or Asclepiades of Prusa, was a Greek physician born at Prusias-on-Sea in Bithynia in Anatolia and who flourished at Rome, where he pra ...

, appeared also in his collected ''Opere'' (1824).

Elizabeth Rawson Elizabeth Donata Rawson, FBA (13 April 1934 – 10 December 1988''The Cambridge Ancient History'' (Cambridge University Press, 1994), vol. 9, preface, p. xvii.) was a classical scholar known primarily for her work in the intellectual history of ...

called the ''Discorso'' "learned and often penetrating, though over-enthusiastic about his subject's moral virtues." Cocchi's writing style was characterized by purity of diction, and in his own time was regarded as a model for scientific writing.

Vegetarianism

Cocchi was a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

and was influenced by

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos ( grc, Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος, Pythagóras ho Sámios, Pythagoras the Samian, or simply ; in Ionian Greek; ) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His poli ...

.Preece, Rod. (2008). ''Sins of the Flesh: A History of Ethical Vegetarian Thought''. UBC Press. pp. 174-175. He authored the book ''Del vitto pitagorico per uso della medicina'' in 1743. It was translated by Robert Dodsley into English as ''The Pythagorean Diet'' in 1745.

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—e ...

admired the book.Albala, Ken. (2002). ''Insensible Perspiration and Oily Vegetable Humor: An Eighteenth-Century Controversy over Vegetarianism''. ''Gastronomica'' 2 (3): 29-36. Cocchi documented the health benefits of a vegetable diet. He was the first to argue that

scurvy Scurvy is a deficiency disease, disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, ch ...

may occur from lack of vegetables in the diet.

Selected publications

''Del vitto pitagorico per uso della medicina''
(1743) *
''Du Regime De Vivre Pythagoricien à l'usage de la Médecine''
(1750) * * '' The Life of Asclepiades'', London: T. Davies, 1762.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cocchi, Antonio 1695 births 1758 deaths 18th-century Italian physicians Fellows of the Royal Society Italian anatomists Italian naturalists Italian vegetarianism activists People from Benevento