PIEDMONT'S MINERALOGISTS DURING THE XIX CENTURY

The purpose of the presentation is to describe the contribution to the Italian mineralogy of influent mineralogists operating in Piedmont Region during the XIX century. As highlighted in the paper, the evolution of the mineralogical science in this region is strictly related to the history of the Kingdom of Sardinia (after the French annexion of the Savoy in 1801 and the restoration of 1815) and to the birth of the Italian Kingdom in 1861. From another standpoint, since preeminent mineralogists were professors or assistant professors, there is also a strong connection with the history of two of the most important institutions devoted to the teaching of science and technology: the Royal Turin University and the Technical Institute, which later became the Royal Application School for Engineers and then the Polytechnic School of Turin). Besides it should not be underestimated the influence of the industrial revolution in Piedmont on the mineralogy of the time. In particular, influent mineralogists were involved in the development of the mining sector and in the search of raw materials in Piedmont Region and in the Italian Kingdom, such as Angelo Sismonda (Professor of mineralogy and Director of the Museum of the University of Turin, and author of the first geological map of Savoy, Piedmont and Liguria), Johann Struver (called by Quintino Sella as Assistant at the School for Engineers, whose studies on Traversella mineralogy are still a masterwork) and Guglielmo Jervis (an English geologist born in Bombay, India, Curator of the Industrial Museum of the Application School in Turin, author of a monumental work about the mineral resources of Italy. The historical journey suggested by this work starts from one of the earliest mineralogists of the 19th century, Carlo Antonio Napione (1756-1814), artillery officer and author of the first mineralogy textbook written in Italian, and goes on showing the work of several eminent scientists until the end of the century. Along this journey in the history, the reader will meet relevant persons and founders of Museums, Institutions and Collections, such as Carlo Allione (botanic and naturalist, but also collector of mineralogical and geological samples), Etienne Borson (the first Professor of Mineralogy at the University of Turin and author of the First catalogue of the University Museum), Vincenzo Barelli (administrator of the wood and mining collection of the Sardinian Kingdom and publisher of the first catalogue of mineral resources of Piedmont and Sardinia), Angelo Sismonda (pupil of Borson and author of the geological cross section for the realization of the Frejus tunnel), Quintino Sella (expert mineralogist and Geometry Professor before becoming Economist and Minister), Giorgio Spezia (inventor of the hydrothermal method and of the relative device for the growth of synthetic quartz at the beginning of 20th century). Still, the work describes the fervent activity of many ther passionate naturalists and mineralogists, who worked not only in Turin but also in the neighboring regions, and contributed to the institution of important museums, through the donation of their precious naturalistic and mineralogical collections to local authorities .