Franco Andrea Bonelli
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Franco Andrea Bonelli (November 10, 1784 - November 18, 1830) was an Italian ornithologist, entomologist and collector. Image:Bonelli Franco Andrea 1784-1830.jpg
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Life
Very little is known about the early life of Bonelli. Simply that he was interested, from an early age in the fauna which surrounded him, making collecting trips, preparing specimens and noting his observations. He suffered from rickets and measured only 1,37 m.
He became a member of the Reale Società Agraria di Torino in 1807 when he presented his first studies relating to the Coleoptera of Piedmontwhere he was born. The quality of these studies attracted the interest of the naturalists of his time
In April 1810, George Vat (1769-1832), was sent to Turin by the French government to reorganize the University of Turin and begin it’s fusion with the Impériale University founded by Napoleon. Vat was very impressed by Bonelli’s knowledge. Vat encouraged him to further his knowledge by coming to follow courses at the Natural History Museum in Paris.
Bonelli took this advice so as obtain a professor’s chair in the new university. In September 1810, he arrived in Paris,
Bonelli became professor of zoology at the university of Turin and keeper of the natural history museum of zoology. It held one of the largest collections of the birds of Europe. Thanks to him , the fame of the university of Turin competed with that of Padua. He wrote, in 1811, his Catalogue of the Birds of Piedmont where he described 262 species. In 1815, he discovered the bird named Bonelli's Warbler (Phylloscopus bonelli) by Louis Vieillot (1748-1831) in 1819.In the same year he discovered Bonelli's Eagle (Hieraaetus fasciatus) that described by Vieillot in 1822.
Achievements
Bonelli is most notable for his work on birds and on the beetle family Carabidae . Since he was an early worker on Coleoptera many of his genera later became Families ,sub families and tribes. Also many of his genera survive.
Instances are the:
- OMOPHRONINAE; PSEUDOMORPHINAE; BRACHININAE;TRECHINAE;HARPALINAE; PSEUDOMORPHINAE ;SIAGONINAE; PTEROSTICHINAE and SCARITINAE - Subfamilies
- DROMIIDAE 1810 Family
- Pterostichini Tribe
Works
- Catalogue des Oiseaux du Piemont (1811).
- Observations Entomologique. Première partie. Mém. Acad. Sci. Turin 18: 21-78, Tabula Synoptica (1810).
- Observations entomologiques. Deuxieme partie. Mém. Acad. Sci. Turin 20: 433-484 (1813)
The last two are founding works of entomology, introducing many new taxa.
Carlo Giuseppe Gené (1800-1847)succeeded him as head of the Turin Natural history museum.
Source
Achille Casale and Pier Mauro Giachino (1998), Franco Andrea Bonelli (1784-1830), an entomologist in Turin at the beginning of the XIX century. in Proceedings of a Symposium (28 August, 1996, Florence, Italy). Phylogeny and Classification of Caraboidea. XX International Congress of Entomology, Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali Torino .
Translated from French Wikipedia
Template:Ornithologist-stub Template:Entomologist-stub Template:Italy-bio-stubde:Franco Andrea Bonelli es:Franco Andrea Bonelli fr:Franco Andrea Bonelli