Giovan Vettorio Soderini (1526 in

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

– 3 March 1596 in

Volterra Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History Volter ...

) was an Italian

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...

Biography

Soderini studied philosophy and law at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

. On his return to

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

, he spoke openly against the Medici, and even participated in a conspiracy whose aim was to take power from them. Condemned by the

Council of Florence The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...

to lose his head on the scaffold, he owed his salvation to the generosity of

Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (30 July 1549 – 3 February 1609) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I. Early life Ferdinando was the fifth son (the third surviving at t ...

, who banished him for life in

Cedri Cedri is a village in Tuscany, central Italy, administratively a frazione of the comune of Peccioli, province of Pisa. At the time of the 2006 parish census its population was 35. Cedri is about 50 km from Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city a ...

near

, after which Soderini devoted himself to the study of agriculture. Giovanni belonged to the same family as

Piero Soderini Piero di Tommaso Soderini (March 17, 1451 – June 13, 1522) also known as Pier Soderini, was an Italian statesman of the Republic of Florence. Biography Soderini was born in Florence to Tommaso di Lorenzo Soderini, a member of an old family ...

who had been exiled by the Medici.

Treaty on the cultivation of the vineyard

His ''Trattato della coltivazione delle viti, e del frutto che se ne puo cavare'' (Treatise on the Cultivation of the Vineyard, and the Fruit That Can Be Obtained) (Florence,

Filippo Giunti The Giunti were a Florentine family of printers. The first Giunti press was established in Venice by Lucantonio Giunti, who began printing under his own name in 1489. The press of his brother Filippo Giunti (1450–1517) in Florence, active fr ...

, 1600), which the academicians of the

Accademia della Crusca The Accademia della Crusca (; "Academy of the Bran"), generally abbreviated as La Crusca, is a Florence-based society of scholars of Italian linguistics and philology. It is one of the most important research institutions of the Italian language ...

have put in the Test ''di conoscenza della lingua italiana'' (Test of knowledge of the Italian language), contains several precepts of

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

and

oenology Oenology (also enology; ) is the science and study of wine and winemaking. Oenology is distinct from viticulture, which is the science of the growing, cultivation, and harvesting of grapes. The English word oenology derives from the Greek word ' ...

. Soderini gives a major role to astrology, recommending to bring in the harvest when the moon is in a certain sign and in decline, for "if one collects then less wine, at least one is sure of its quality and its conservation". The book is dedicated by the editor Giunti to Florentine poet

Luigi Alamanni Luigi Alamanni (sometimes spelt Alemanni) (6 March 149518 April 1556) was an Italian poet and statesman. He was regarded as a prolific and versatile poet. He was credited with introducing the epigram into Italian poetry. Biography Alamanni was ...

. It appeared for the first time with another treatise on the same subject by

Bernardo Davanzati Bernardo Davanzati (1529 – 1606) was an Italian agronomist, economist and translator. Davanzati was major translator of Tacitus. He also attempted the concision of Tacitus in his own Italian prose, taking a motto ''Strictius Arctius'' reflectin ...

, and the ''Apology of the Melon (Popone)'' by Lionardo Giachini. Soderini's book was reprinted separately by Domenico Maria Manni in 1734, with some biographical information.https://archive.org/details/trattatodellacol00sode
/ref> In 1590, Soderini, under the alias Ciriegiulo, published the first documented mention of the

Sangiovese Sangiovese (, also , , ) is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin ''sanguis Jovis'', "the blood of Jupiter". Though it is the grape of most of central Italy from Romagna down to Lazio (the most widespread grape i ...

("blood of Jove") grape, calling it "Sangiogheto", noting that in Tuscany the grape makes very good wine, but if the winemaker is not careful, it risks turning into vinegar.

Other works

* Breve descrizione delie pompa funerale fatua neir esequie del gran ducq Francesco Medici, ibid., 1587 * Trattato d1 agricoltura, ibid., 1811 * Delia coltura degli orti e giardini, ibid, 1814 * Trattato degli alberi, ibid., 1817. The last three treatises have been extracted from the unpublished manuscripts preserved in the Magliabechiana Library in four volumes. For further information see the manual of Manni, and Poggiali: ''Serie de testi di lingua, t. 1, p. 366, and t. 2, p. 72. * "Giovan Vettorio Soderini," in

Louis Gabriel Michaud Louis-Gabriel Michaud (19 January 1773, Castle Richemont – 8 March 1858) was a French writer, historian, printer, and bookseller. He was notable as the compiler of ''Biographie Universelle'' (1811–). Life He became a lieutenant on 15 July ...

, ''Ancient and Modern Universal Biography: Alphabetically by history of public and private life of men with the collaboration of more than 300 French and foreign scholars and litterateurs'', 2nd edition, 1843–1865

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soderini, Giovan Vettorio 1526 births 1596 deaths 16th-century people of the Republic of Florence Italian agronomists 16th-century Italian writers Renaissance scientists History of wine