Francesco Bianchini ( 1662 - 1729 )

Birth: Verona, Italy (13 December 1662) Death: 02 March 1729 Profession: Roman Catholic Priest Research Field: Astronomy, antiquities Education: Jesuit College of S Luigi, Bologna (1673-1680); Padua (1680-1684); Rome Career: Went to Rome under the patronage of Cardinal Ottoboni (1684); employed in the Curia (1688); Custodian of the Ottobonian Library; Gentleman of the Bedchamber to the Pope (Albani) (1699); Secretary of the Congregation for the Reform of the Calendar (1701); President of the Antiquities of Rome (1703); carried out the first systematic excavations on the Palatine Hill; Canon of Sta Maria Maggiore (1710); travelled to France to present Cardinal de Rohan with his cardinal's hat (1712); also travelled to Alsace, the Rhineland, the Netherlands and England (1713); inspired by the work of the Cassinis in France he began to calculate a meridian for Italy; died of dropsy, when he was found to be wearing a hair shirt Memberships: Academie Royale des Sciences (Corresponding 1699), (Foreign Associate 1706) Membership: Fellow Election Date: 29/01/1713 Proposers: Sir Isaac Newton.