Paolo Boccone

Paolo Silvio Boccone (1633-1704) was a Sicilian botanist whose interest in plants had been sparked by the botanical gardens (l'Orto Botanico) founded in Messina by the Roman doctor Pietro Castelli, who became his instructor. Born in Palermo, he traveled across Sicily, Corsica, Paris, and London and later became a lecturer in Padua. He published Recherches et observations naturelles (Paris, 1671), which concerned itself with various theories of nature, and supplied important contributions to the fields of medicine and toxicology.

Related Topics:
1633 - 1704 - Sicilian - Messina - Roman - Pietro Castelli - Palermo - Corsica - Paris - London - Padua - 1671 - Toxicology

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He was employed as court botanist to Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany as well as to Ferdinando's son, Cosimo III.

Related Topics:
Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany - Cosimo III

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In the work Museo di piante rare della Sicilia, Malta, Corsica, Italia, Piemonte, e Germania (1697), Boccone described many rare plants of Sicily, Malta, Italy, Piedmont, and Germany. A fungus scientifically named Pisolithus tinctorius was called in the Sicilian dialect catatùnfuli, and Boccone writes that this fungus was employed by the women of Messina in order to dye cloth.

Related Topics:
1697 - Sicily - Malta - Italy - Piedmont - Germany - Fungus - Dialect - Messina

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In the same year, Boccone entered the order of the Cistercians and took the name Silvio.

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Boccone had been widely regarded by the scientific community, and was in contact with many European naturalists. The French botanist Charles Plumier studied under him at Rome. Boccone died in Palermo. Linnaeus named the genus Bocconia, in the family of the Papaveraceae, after him.

Related Topics:
Charles Plumier - Rome - Palermo - Linnaeus - Bocconia - Papaveraceae

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