Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopolius) (3 June 1723 – 8 May 1788) was an Italian

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational European" and the "

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

Biography

Scopoli was born at Cavalese in the Val di Fiemme, belonging to the Bishopric of Trent (today's

Trentino Trentino (), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento (; ; ), is an Autonomous province#Italy, autonomous province of Italy in the Northern Italy, country's far north. Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the Regions of Italy, region of Tren ...

), son of Francesco Antonio, military commissioner, and Claudia Caterina Gramola (1699-1791), a painter from a patrician family from Trentino. He obtained a degree in medicine at

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. It is the largest education facility in the Austrian States of Austria, ...

, and practised as a doctor in Cavalese and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

.Newton, Alfred 1881. ''Scopoli's ornithological papers.'' The Willoughby Society
Scanned version
/ref> Much of his time was spent in the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, collecting plants and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s, of which he made outstanding collections. He spent two years as private secretary to the bishop of Seckau, and then was appointed in 1754 as physician of the mercury mines in Idrija, a small town in the Habsburg realm, remaining there until 1769. In 1761, he published ''De Hydroargyro Idriensi Tentamina'' on the symptoms of mercury poisoning among mercury miners. Scopoli Harrier 1786

Scopoli spent time studying the local natural history, publishing '' Flora Carniolica'' (1760) as well as a major work on the insects of Carniola, (1763). He also published a series of ''Anni Historico-Naturales'' (1769–1772), which included first descriptions of birds from various collections. In 1769, Scopoli was appointed a professor of chemistry and metallurgy at Mining Academy at Schemnitz (now Banská Štiavnica,

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

), and in 1777 transferred to the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...

. He became a bitter rival of Lazzaro Spallanzani, who was accused of stealing specimens from the

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

museum. Spallanzani was tried and the prolonged trial resulted in

acquittal In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an of ...

. Shortly thereafter, Scopoli died of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. His last work was ''Deliciae Flora et Fauna Insubricae'' (1786–1788), which included scientific names for birds and mammals in northwestern Italy described by Pierre Sonnerat in the accounts of his voyages. Scopoli corresponded with

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

, a Swedish botanist who laid the foundations of modern

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

. Scopoli communicated all of his research, findings, and descriptions (for example of the olm and the dormouse, two little animals hitherto unknown to Linnaeus). Linnaeus greatly respected him and showed great interest in his work. Because of a great distance, they never met. Scopoli is frequently mentioned by Gilbert White in his '' The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''.

Works

''Flora Carniolica'' (1760)
a

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

of Carniola, part of modern-day

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

** : A revised second edition of the first elaborate description of the flora of Carniola, undertaken when Scopoli lived in Idrija. It has 66 plates engraved by J. F. Rein after original drawings by Scopoli. Whereas the unillustrated first edition of 1760 of 600 pages had no binary names for the plant species, this edition has binary names and is written in the Linnaean tradition in all other respects as well. *''De Hydroargyro Idriensi Tentamina'' (1761): a medical work on the symptoms of mercury poisoning among miners. *''Entomologia Carniolica''. Vienna: Trattner. (1763): a major work on

entomology Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

containing many descriptions of new species. * *''Joh. Ant. Scopoli der Arzneywissenschaft Doktors, Ihro... Majest. Cameralphysici in der Bergstadt Idria ... Einleitung zur Kenntniß und Gebrauch der Foßilien,'' Hartknoch4031. Göttingen: Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Riga (1769). In German. Doctoral Thesis. *''Anni Historico-Naturales'' (1769–1772): This work included descriptions of new birds. * * *''Introductio ad historiam naturalem, sistens genera lapidum, plantarum et animalium hactenus detecta, caracteribus essentialibus donata, in tribus divisa, subinde ad leges naturae''. Prague. (1777): masterwork of natural history describing world genera and species. *''Fundamenta Botanica Praelectionibus publicis accomodata''. Papiae, S. Salvatoris (1783): A botanical classic with ten engraved plates each depicting ten to sixteen exact drawings. *With Pierre Joseph Macquer, ''Dizionario di chimica del Sig. Pietro Giuseppe Macquer … Tradotto dal francese e corredato di note e di nuovi articoli...'' Pavia: printed at the Monastery of San Salvatore for G. Bianchi (1783–1784): The chemist Joseph Macquer's Dictionnaire de chymie, the first dictionary of theoretical and general chemistry was written it in haste and concerned about his reputation, Macquer published it anonymously in 1766. Its huge success prompted the preparation of a revised second edition (1778). Then Scopoli translated and extensively augmented it. A second edition of the translated work, without further additions was published in Venice in 1784–1785. *''Deliciae Flora et Fauna Insubricae Ticini'' (1786–1788): an account including new descriptions of the birds and mammals collected by Pierre Sonnerat on his voyages. * * *

Some taxa named by Scopoli

*'' Anser albifrons'' (Scopoli, 1769) Greater White-fronted Goose *'' Oxyura leucocephala'' (Scopoli, 1769) White-headed Duck *'' Calonectris diomedea '' (Scopoli, 1769) Scopoli's Shearwater *'' Ardeola ralloides'' (Scopoli, 1769) Squacco Heron *'' Porzana parva'' (Scopoli, 1769) Little Crake *'' Charadrius dubius'' (Scopoli, 1786) Little Ringed Plover *'' Tyto alba'' (Scopoli, 1769) Western Barn Owl *'' Athene noctua '' (Scopoli, 1769) Little Owl *'' Ptyonoprogne rupestris '' (Scopoli, 1769) Eurasian Crag Martin *'' Prunella collaris '' (Scopoli, 1769) Alpine Accentor *'' Emberiza melanocephala '' Scopoli, 1769 Black-headed Bunting *'' Psittacula krameri '' (Scopoli, 1769) Rose-ringed Parakeet *'' Emerita'' (genus) 1777, mole crab, sand crab, sand bug ( Hippidae), East Pacific sandy seashores *'' Battus'' (genus) 1777, Swallowtail butterfly ( Papilionidae), South America *'' Rhagonycha fulva'' 1763, soldier beetle (

Cantharidae The soldier beetles (Cantharidae) are relatively soft-bodied, straight-sided beetles. They are Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan in distribution. One of the first described species has a color pattern reminiscent of the Red coat (Bri ...

), Europe *'' Cucujus cinnaberinus'' 1763, flat bark beetle ( Cucujidae), Europe *'' Osmoderma eremita'' 1763, hermit beetle (

Scarabaeidae The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 35,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change. Several groups formerly tre ...

), Europe *'' Sargus bipunctatus'' 1763, soldier fly species ( Diptera), Europe *'' Bombus pascuorum'' 1763,

bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...

species ( Hymenoptera), Europe *'' Aphis fabae'' 1763, bean aphid (Hemiptera), Worldwide *Proboscidea (Order, invalid) 1763, thrips, cicadas,

Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from ...

: major grouping in ''Entomologia Carniolica'' *'' Amanita caesarea'' 1772, Caesar's mushroom (edible and highly prized) *'' Laccaria laccata'' 1772, deceiver mushroom *Caudata (Order, invalid),

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

s: clade as major grouping of

Amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

s *'' Dolichovespula sylvestris'' 1763, tree wasp, Europe and Asia

Some taxa dedicated to Scopoli

*'' Scopolia'', a genus of plants, and the

alkaloid Alkaloids are a broad class of natural product, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large varie ...

scopolamine isolated from such plants *'' Scopolia'', a genus of moths *'' Cerambyx scopolii '' (Fuessly, 1775), a

longhorn beetle The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns (whose larvae are often referred to as roundheaded borers), are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by Antenn ...

(

Cerambycidae The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns (whose larvae are often referred to as roundheaded borers), are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by anten ...

), Europe *'' Dorcadion scopolii'' ( Herbst, 1784), a

(

), Europe *Scops owl

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scopoli, Giovanni Antonio 18th-century physicians from the Holy Roman Empire 18th-century Italian botanists 18th-century Carniolan people 18th-century Austrian zoologists Zoologists from the Holy Roman Empire 1723 births 1788 deaths Austrian arachnologists Austrian mycologists Austrian ornithologists Austrian taxonomists Botanists with author abbreviations Carniolan botanists Carniolan geologists Carniolan physicians Italian emigrants to Austria Italian lepidopterists Italian mycologists Italian ornithologists People from Cavalese People from Tyrol (federal state) Italian phycologists Pteridologists 18th-century writers in Latin 18th-century Italian zoologists *