De Gasparis, Annibale (1819-1892)

De Gasparis, Annibale

ASTRONOMER, MATHEMATICIAN (ITALY)

BORN 9 Nov 1819, Bugnara, Abruzzo - DIED 21 Mar 1892, Napoli, Campania
GRAVE LOCATION Napoli, Campania: Cimitero di Poggioreale - Camposanto Nuovo, Via S. Maria del Pianto

Annibale de Gasparis was the son of the doctor Angelo de Gasparis and of Eleonora Angelantoni. He studied at seminars in Sulmona and Chieti. He liked classic novels and privately studied mathematics. In 1838 he entered the School of Bridges and Roads in Naples, but in 1839 he became student at the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte. There he studied mathematics and celestial mechanics. His first publication took place in 1845 and in 1846 he received a honorary degree in mathematics by the University of Naples.

He took part in the liberal activities of 1848, but he escaped the revenge of the Bourbons by dedicating his discovery of the asteroid Hygiea (on 12 April 1849) to Ferdinand II. The observatory's director Capocci was dismissed in 1850 together with his colleagues Nobile and Peters because of their revolutionary activities. De Gasparis refused to succeed him because of their friendship. In 1858 he obtained a professorship at Naples University.

In 1861 he was appointed Senator of the Kingdom of Italy. After Capocci died in 1864 he became the director of the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte in Naples. He worked there until signs of progressive paralysis forced him to resign in 1889. During his last years he lived in a country house near the observatory.

The moon crater De Gasparis was named after him.

Images
The grave of Annibale de Gasparis at the Cimitero di Poggioreale, Napoli. Picture by Androom (16 Feb 2020)	The grave of Annibale de Gasparis at the Cimitero di Poggioreale, Napoli. Picture by Androom (16 Feb 2020)