BRUGNATELLI, Luigi Valentino. – Born in Pavia on 14 Feb. 1761, died there on 24 Aug. 1818, he was regarded as one of the foremost chemists of his time.
To him are owed the first applications of Volta’s pile to chemistry and the invention of the electrolectroautoma, which gave rise to electroplating. He studied gastric juice, saliva, calculi, uric acid, cork, suberic acid, potato starch, wheat starch, dextrin, gluten, fibrin and casein. He founded the *Annali di Chimica* (Pavia 1790–1808) and the *Giornale di Fisica, Chimica e Storia Naturale* (ibid. 1808–27). Notable among his works are the *Elementi di Chimica* (ibid. 1795–97) and the *Farmacopea Generale*, which was translated into French (Paris 1811).
BIBL.: I. Guareschi, *Supplemento annuale all'Enciclopedia chimica*, 28 (1912), p. 404; G. Provenzal, *Profili di chimici italiani*, Roma 1938, pp. 90–95; M. Giua, *Storia della Chimica*, Torino 1946, p. 89.