Luigi Castiglioni (explorer)

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Luigi Gomes Castiglioni (from 1810 Conte Castiglioni ; born October 3, 1757 in Milan , † April 22, 1832 ibid) was an Italian nobleman , explorer , botanist , historian and politician . Its botanical author abbreviation is Castigl.

Life

Castiglioni was the second-born son of Count Ottavio Castiglioni and, after his early death, the stepson of the philosopher and enlightener Pietro Verri (1728–1797), his mother's brother Teresa Verri. Luigi Castiglioni studied at the Collegio Longone of the Barnabites when the Collegio was merged under Austrian rule with the Collegio dei nobili of the disgraced Jesuits .

Due to a larger inheritance, Luigi, in contrast to his older brother Alfonso, was able to devote himself entirely to his scientific interests and, from 1785, went on a three-year research trip to North America. In 1786, Castiglioni was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society .

Back in Milan, Castiglioni published a two-volume report on his trip in 1790, which included botanical and zoological as well as economic, political, historical and social descriptions of the young United States . In it, he condemned the settlers' relationship with the indigenous population and with the slaves , while the democratic and differentiated society of the Central Atlantic states was favored. Castiglioni's description of William Penn and his founding Pennsylvania and Philadelphia is outstanding . The writing of his stepfather Pietro Verri Pensieri sullo stato politico del Milanese (1790) was certainly influenced by this. From 1790 Luigi Castiglioni published detailed descriptions of the flora of North America and from 1791 the first four volumes of the Storia delle piante forestiere le più importanti nell'uso medico ed economico ("History of the most important foreign plants in medical and economic use"). In each volume 24 species were described in terms of origin, culture, morphology, practical use and geographical distribution, illustrated by copperplate engravings by the brothers Gaudenzio Bordiga (1773-1837) and Benedetto Bordiga (1766-1847). The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) lists a total of 78 species described by him. Castiglioni also translated classical Latin writings on agronomy and experimented with new cultivation methods in his gardens in Mozzate in Lombardy , which he presented to Arthur Young , among others .

After Napoleon's Italian campaign , Castiglioni was twice appointed to the council of the newly founded Cisalpine Republic (1799–1801), but refused each time "for health reasons". In the successor state of the Italian Republic (1802-1805), at the instigation of Vice-President Francesco Melzi d'Eril , Castiglioni was publicly active and belonged to both the electoral group from the landowners and the Istituto Lombardo di scienze e lettere in 1802 . In 1803 he was appointed to a commission for school reform and from 1805 he held the office of study inspector.

Luigi Castiglioni was president of the Accademia di Brera and head of the royal printing house from 1807 . In 1809 he became a senator in the Kingdom of Italy and in 1810 Napoleon made him count. After the end of Napoleonic rule, Castiglioni played a minor role in the Kingdom of Lombardy-Veneto (from 1815), but was still Imperial Chamberlain from 1820 and remained President of the Accademia di Brera until his death .

Luigi Castiglioni was married to a distant relative, Teresa Castiglioni, from 1800. The marriage produced a daughter, Beatrice Castiglioni-Rasini. Luigi Castiglioni died on April 22, 1832 in Milan and was buried in the Cimitero Monumentale there. He bequeathed his coin collection to the city of Milan, but his chief heiress was his daughter.

In honor of Castiglioni, the jatropha was named Castiglionia in 1794 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Castiglioni, Luigi (1757-1832), naturalist, author, and politician - American National Biography. In: Anb.org. Accessed May 7, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b Author entry and list of the plant names described for Luigi Castiglioni (explorer) at the IPNI
  3. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter C. (PDF; 1.3 MB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Accessed May 7, 2018 .
  4. ^ American Philosophical Society - Member History. In: search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved May 7, 2018 .
  5. ^ World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. In: wcsp.science.kew.org. 2007, accessed on May 8, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Castiglioni, Luigi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Castiglione, Luigi; Castiglioni, Luigi Gomes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian nobleman and explorer
DATE OF BIRTH October 3, 1757
PLACE OF BIRTH Milan
DATE OF DEATH April 22, 1832
Place of death Milan