DE ROSSI, MICHELE STEFANO. - Geologist, b. in Rome on 30 Oct. 1834 and d. at Rocca di Papa on 23 Oct. 1898, he was the inseparable companion in the explorations of his brother Giovanni Battista (v.), for whom he drew plans and sections even of the most hidden and dangerous parts of the Roman catacombs.
Highly versed in the natural sciences and particularly in geology, he applied this knowledge of his to the study of the cemeteries, thus offering in his appendices to the three volumes of his brother's Roma sotterranea a truly positive contribution with his Analisi geologica ed architettonica del cimitero di Callisto (Rome 1867). With it he set the seal on the demonstration by Fr. G. Marchi (v.) concerning the wholly Christian origin of the catacombs, making their extent known, studying the laws and limits of the excavations and in particular establishing with technical arguments the chronology of a part of the cemetery of Callistus. Among his articles in this field, mention should be made of the two published in Rome in the Atti dell'Accademia dei nuovi Lincei: Dell'ampiezza delle romane catacombe e d'una macchina iconografica ed ortografica per rilevarne le piante ed i livelli (1860) and Quale metodo tecnico adoperarono i fossori per dirigere l'escavazione nel labirinto dei cimiteri suburbani di Roma, 33 (1880), p. 418-26.
To him are owed numerous and important studies on terrestrial dynamism, to observe which he invented ingenious instruments. Thanks to his efforts the Italian government established at Rocca di Papa a geodynamic observatory of which he was appointed director. His principal seismological investigations were set out by him in La meteorologia endogena (2 vols., Milan 1879-82). He also made important observations in the Bollettino del vulcanismo italiano, which he founded and directed from 1874 to 1897. His writings are numerous also in the field of palethnology.
Bibliography3 works
Giuseppe Bovini