Antonio Cocchi

Antonio Cocchi
Born	August 3, 1695 Florence
Died	January 1, 1758 (aged 62)
Nationality	Italy
Occupation	physician naturalist writer
Known for	anatomy

Antonio Cocchi (3 August 1695 – 1 January 1758) was an Italian physician, naturalist and writer. He was best known for his work on anatomy.^[1]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1736, his candidature citation describing him as "a very noted & Skilfull Physician at Florence, and formerly Professor of Physic and Philosophy in the University of Pisa, desirous of being elected into this Honourable Society; he is a Gentleman of very distinguished merit both in his profession and all other parts of Natural & Philosophical Learning; he is the Author of Several Books and is now publishing some Greek Medical Writers never before printed from the MSS in the Laurentian Library; he is also at this time Secretary to a Society newly Set up at Florence very much on the Same foot as the Royal Society is here" ^[2]

Cocchi spent three years in England, where he knew Isaac Newton. Although offered a position by the Princess of Wales, he returned to teach in Tuscany.^[3]

Cocci was also a classical scholar, producing the first edition of the Ephesian Tale, a novel by Xenophon of Ephesus, as well as other work on Greek romances. His Discorso primo sopra Asclepiade (1758), on Asclepiades of Bithynia, appeared also in his collected Opere (1824).^[4] Elizabeth Rawson called the Discorso "learned and often penetrating, though over-enthusiastic about his subject's moral virtues."^[5]

Cocchi's writing style was characterized by purity of diction, and in his own time was regarded as a model for scientific writing.^[6]

References

Dell'anatomia, 1745

1. Santi, Raffaella; Conti, Andrea A.; Nesi, Gabriella. "What a pity the master cannot admire his pupil's work: the autopsy of the anatomist Antonio Cocchi (1695-1758) performed by his pupil Saverio Manetti". Cardiovasc. Pathol. United States. 20 (4): 238–41. doi:10.1016/j.carpath.2010.05.002. PMID 20619688.
2. "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 2012-03-17.
3. Elizabeth Rawson, "The Life and Death of Asclepiades of Bithynia," Classical Quarterly 32.2 (1982), p. 361.
4. Rawson, "Asclepiades," p. 361. An English translation was made in 1762, and the work can be found in English also in R.M. Green, Asclepiades: His Life and Writings (1955).
5. Rawson, "Asclepiades," p. 361.
6. Rawson, "Asclepiades," p. 361.

External links

• Works by or about Antonio Cocchi in libraries (WorldCat catalog)