TOSETTI, URBANO. - Scholastic scientist, born in Florence on 28 June 1714, died in Rome on 9 March 1768.
He chiefly cultivated the physical sciences, which he taught first in Cortona and later in Rome at the Collegio Nazareno, where he also served as rector. He was the first in Italy, together with the other two Piarists, Fr. Petrini and Audrich, to publish and enrich with new experiments the discovery of Haller regarding the insensitivity of certain parts of animals, and to discuss the matter with great learning in some printed letters to his friend Dr. Valdambrini. He was a close friend of Popes Benedict XIV and Clement XIV; the former even wished him to be tutor to his nephews. He published many essays and works of a philosophical and didactic nature: the Compendio della vita di S. Giuseppe Calasanzio, issued in 1767 on the occasion of the canonization, has already had more than forty editions.