Giuseppe Mercalli. — Seismologist and volcanologist, b. in Milan on 21 May 1850, d. in Naples on 19 March 1914. Ordained priest in 1871, graduated in natural sciences in 1874, he taught in various schools, including the Liceo of Reggio Calabria and the “Vittorio Emanuele” in Naples, until 1911. At the same time, following the advice of his teacher Stoppani, he began geological research on the glacial terrains of Lombardy. But he soon turned to the study of volcanoes and earthquakes, illustrating them with numerous publications, e.g., on the earthquakes of Casamicciola (1853), Liguria (1857), the Pontine Islands (1892), and Messina (1908).
To him we owe the first maps of volcanic cartography in Italy and a new classification of earthquakes, known as the “Mercalli scale,” still in practical use, especially for the higher degrees. In 1885 he was appointed lecturer in seismology and volcanology at the University of Catania and later Naples; in 1912 director of the Vesuvian Observatory. He met a tragic death, being charred in a fire accidentally started by himself in his room. He was a member of several academies, including the Pontifical Roman Academy of the New Lincei.
His numerous publications include, among the most noteworthy: *Vulcani e fenomeni vulcanici in Italia* (Milan 1883; Pius XI publicly recalled having contributed to it, still believing [cf. Neviani, art. cit. in bibl.] and it would be his chap. 11 on the catalogues of Italian earthquakes); *I vulcani attivi della terra, Morfologia, Dinamismo, Prodotti, Distribuzione geografica. Cause* (Milan 1907; describes 213 volcanoes).