Agostino Bassi
1773 – 1856
Italian

Biologist and pioneer bacteriologist. Through patient scientific observation and research, he discovered that silkworms became infected by fungi. He then theorized that other diseases might have comparable origins, an insight that preceded Pasteur's revolutionary work, and thus helped lay that groundwork for scientific medicine.

Contemporaries
1813–1901Giuseppe Verdi
1792–1878Pius IX
1835–1914St. Pius X
1848–1923Vilfredo Pareto
1852–1940Edgar Mortara
1805–1872Giuseppe Mazzini
1853–1932Enrico Malatesta
1836–1909Cesare Lombroso
1798–1837Giacomo Leopardi
1801–1852Vicenzo Gioberti
1807–1882Giuseppe Garibaldi
1797–1848Gaetano Donizetti
1810–1861Camillo Cavour
1725–1798Giacomo Casanova
1753–1824Jean Jacques Cambacérès
1743–1795Alessandro Cagliostro
1797–1878Carlo Blasis
1783–1851Giovanni Berchet
1801–1835Vincenzo Bellini
1738–1794Cesare Beccaria
1718–1799Maria Agnesi