GUIDO ALFANI. — Born in Florence on 17 January 1876 to Professor Augusto, a member of the Accademia della Crusca, and Luisa Carobbi; died there on 20 November 1940. Joined the Scolopi order on 10 May 1899. In 1905 he succeeded Fr. Giovannozzi as director of the Ximenian Observatory in Florence, which he made known throughout the world for his seismological work. He was a distinguished seismologist and ingenious experimental physicist. He perfected and invented numerous highly sensitive seismic instruments bearing his name, the principal of which are: 1) the Omori-Alfani tropometrographs; 2) an orthoseismograph; 3) two aperiodic pendulums; 4) a double pendulum; 5) the photoseismograph of the Galitzin type; 6) the accelerometric vibrograph; 7) the portable trepidometer.
He studied with particular care and insight the vibrations and deflections of various national monuments, such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, and Brunelleschi’s dome. In the latter, he repeated the pendulum experiment first conducted in Italy by the Accademia del Cimento and later in Paris by Foucault in 1851. He was the first to establish in Italy a radiotelegraphic station for the time service of seismic instruments; Marconi tested its operation.
An indefatigable scholar, by precisely locating the epicenters of various earthquakes, he promptly notified the authorities to provide aid to devastated centers (Messina: 28 Dec. 1908; Avezzano: 13 July 1915; Mugello: 29 June 1919; Alpi Apuane: 7 Sept. 1920) and always went to the stricken sites to study the phenomenon directly. Through writings and lectures, he disseminated science with clarity and simplicity. He left about a hundred scientific papers on physical, technical, and constructional seismology; astronomy and meteorology, in which science he became known for inventing an altimeter and a microbarograph, remarkable for their precision. He also invented an automatic telephone and a tachymeter. He contributed greatly to the study of Florence’s climate. He was a free lecturer in seismology at the University of that city.
The author was not only a highly esteemed scientist but also a priest who deeply felt the loftiness of his ministry and generously devoted himself to comforting and bringing back to God lost souls, not least the case of Giosuè Borsi, whom he led back to the Christian faith. He was a father and brother to those who entrusted their consciences to him, so as to have their anxieties and wounds healed.
His passing was a profound sorrow for the entire city. On his tomb in Rivedi, a parchment reads: “He used his learning to turn men’s minds to the worship of God.”