ALFANI, GUIDO. - Born in Florence on 17 January 1876 to Prof. Augusto, a member of the Accademia della Crusca, and to Luisa Carobbi, he died there on 20 November 1940. A Scolopian on 10 May 1899. In 1905 he succeeded Fr. Giovannozzi as director of the Ximenian Observatory in Florence, which he made known to the whole world through its seismological activity. He was a valiant seismologist and an ingenious experimental physicist. He perfected and devised numerous highly sensitive seismic instruments, which bear his name, the principal ones being: 1) the Omori-Alfani tropometrographs; 2) an orthoseismograph; 3) two aperiodic pendulums; 4) a bipendulum; 5) the photoseismograph of the Galitzin type; 6) the accelerometric vibrograph; 7) the portable trepidometer.
He studied with particular care and acumen 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 performed in Italy by the members of the Accademia del Cimento, and later in Paris by Foucault in 1851. He was the first to set up in Italy a radiotelegraphic station for the hourly service of seismic instruments: Marconi tested its operation.
An indefatigable scholar, in pinpointing the epicenter of various earthquakes he gave timely notice to the authorities for the relief of the devastated centers (Messina: 28 Dec. 1908; Avezzano: 13 July 1915; Mugello: 29 June 1919; Apuan Alps: 7 Sept. 1920) and always went to the stricken places for the direct study of the phenomenon.
Through writings and lectures he popularized science with clarity and simplicity. He leaves about a hundred scientific papers on physical, technical and structural seismology; on astronomy and meteorology, in which science he became known for the invention of an altimeter and a microbarograph, admirable for their accuracy. He also has to his credit an automatic telephone and a tachometer. He contributed greatly to the study of the climate of Florence. He was a libero docente of seismology at the University of that city.
A. was not only a highly esteemed scientist, but also a priest who felt deeply the loftiness of his ministry, and who gave generously of himself to comfort and lead back to God lost souls: the case of Giosuè Borsi, brought back by our subject to the Christian faith, is known everywhere. He was a father and brother to those who entrusted their conscience to him, so as to have their anxieties and wounds healed.
His passing was a most profound mourning for the whole city. On his tomb, at Rifredi, a parchment reads: « Doctrina usus est ut hominum animos ad Dei cultum converteret ».
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Giovanni Battista Alfano