Giovanni Gussone (8 February 1787, inVillamaina – 14 January 1866, inNaples) was anItalian academic andbotanist, remembered for his work inplant taxonomy and in particular his research inSicilian flora.
He studied medicine inNaples, where he came under the influence of botanistMichele Tenore. Following graduation in 1811, he worked under Tenore as a manager of theOrto Botanico di Napoli (botanical garden in Naples). In 1817 he moved to Sicily, where he was appointed director of the botanical garden at Boccadifalco, outside ofPalermo. In Sicily, he conducted extensive investigations of the island's flora, publishing two major works as a result, "Florae Siculae Prodromus" and "Florae Siculae Synopsis". In 1827 he returned to Naples as superintendent of the botanical gardens. In 1861 he was named byVictor Emmanuel asprofessor emeritus of theUniversity of Naples.[1][2]
Plants with the specific epithet ofgussonei are named in his honor, an example beingPetagnaea gussonei.[1]
He was born inVillamaina (AV) on February 8, 1787, to Gaetano and Celestina De Martino. He graduated in medicine inNaples in 1810 and decided not to practice medicine as he was attracted to the plant world.[3] He became a student ofMichele Tenore, professor of botany and director of theBotanical Garden of the University of Naples Federico II, with whom he began a deep and fruitful scientific collaboration. Collaboration that was immediately made explicit with his participation in the drafting of the monumental Flora Napolitana and his appointment as assistant in the direction of the Botanical Garden. In 1812 he began a series of studies on the flora of the Neapolitan area,Samnium andMolise, also establishing a herbarium to the enrichment of which he devoted his whole life.
In 1817 he was commissioned by Crown Prince Francis of Bourbon, then lieutenant inSicily, to establish the experimental and acclimatization garden of Boccadifalco inPalermo. In 1827, followingFrancis I of the Two Sicilies accession to the throne, he was recalled to Naples and appointed Court Botanist, with the task of looking after all the royal sites. During his Sicilian sojourn he was able to carry out numerous explorations to deepen his knowledge of the local flora, moving, in part through the use of aBrigantine made available to him by the king, to the surrounding islands, which had never before been visited by naturalists. Travels, in Italy and abroad, were a constant feature of his professional activity, which he carried out both as a trustee of the king and for scientific studies and research. In 1829, for example, he accompanied King Francis I toSpain on the occasion of the wedding of his daughter, PrincessMaria Christina of the Two Sicilies, toFerdinand VII. During his stay in Madrid, he distinguished himself for his abilities and skills to the extent that he was vainly requested by the Spanish court itself. In 1830, as the court hastily returned to Naples because of the revolutionary uprisings, he stayed for two months in Paris, visiting the most important herbaria in the city, and then moved to London, where he was able to see the Linnean herbarium In 1854 he was appointed professor ofbotany andAgriculture at the R. Scuola di Veterinaria e di Agricoltura, established in Naples in 1848.[4] In 1861, after the birth of theKingdom of Italy, he was appointed byVictor Emmanuel II Professor Emeritus of the University of Naples. In the same year, in recognition of the importance of his scientific activity, the same university purchased his herbarium, allocating it to the Botanical Garden, and his personal library. During his career he held numerous positions, among which are the presidency of theAccademia Pontaniana (1862) and participation in the Higher Council of Public Education. He was also an ordinary member of the R. Accademia delle Scienze of Naples, the R. Società d'Incoraggiamento e di Storia Naturale, a corresponding member of the Accademia di scienze e lettere of Palermo, the R. Accademia Peloritana of Messina, the R. Accademia delle Scienze of Turin, the Accademia Truentina of Ascoli, the Accademia delle Scienze of Bologna, the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, and, in London, the Medico-Botanical Society and the Linnean Society.
He died in Naples on January 14, 1866.
