Orazio Silvestri

Orazio Silvestri
Born	7 February 1835 Firenze
Died	17 August 1890 (aged 55) Catania
Nationality	Italian
Fields	Volcanologist, Geologist

Orazio Silvestri (7 February 1835 – 17 August 1890) was an Italian geologist and volcanologist. To him are entitled Monti Silvestri, two pyroclastic cones formed in 1892 north of Nicolosi, at an altitude of 1,900 m, on the slopes of Mount Etna.^[1] At a time, such as that of the mid-nineteenth century, when the Italian scientific production was slow due to lack of valid scholars, numerous works of Silvestri found prominence in the most prestigious national and international scientific publications. After his death, he bequeathed studies and works of great value for understanding the evolution of Etna whom had devoted much of his life.^[2]

The famous German mineralogist and petrographer Arnold von Lasaulx, with whom he collaborated, defined Silvestri as «The greatest connoisseur of the giant volcano, of the power of its manifestations and of its strength».^[3]

Notes

1. CAI Catania(Italian)
2. Antonio Patanè, L'attività scientifico-operativa del prof. Orazio Silvestri a Catania dal 1865 al 1887, MEMORIE E RENDICONTI, Serie V, Vol. II, Accademia di scienze, lettere e belle arti degli Zelanti e dei Dafnici, Acireale, 2003, (Italian)
3. Tiziana Abate, Stefano Branca, Carmelo Monaco, translation of J. C. Tanguy, Les éruptions de l'Etna dans l'œuvre d'Orazio Silvestri (1835-1890) - Le dessin comme instrument de l'observation scientifique, in Mémoire de la Revue LAVE, Number 11, p. 8, L'Association Volcanologique Européenne, Paris, 2015, ISSN 0982-9601(French)