2-67. Pietro Blaserna

Pietro Blaserna (1836–1919) was born in Fiumicello d’Aquileia, and grew up in Gorizia, in an Austro-Hungarian province that was annexed by Italy after the First World War. His father Matteo Blaserna was a royal hydraulics engineer; his mother Caterina was of Germanic origin. Blaserna studied mathematics and physics in Vienna from 1854 to 1857, when he became an assistant to Andreas von Ettinghausen at the Institute of Physics. In 1859, at the outset of the war of independence of Piedmont against the Austro-Hungarian empire, Blaserna moved to Paris, where he collaborated with Victor Regnault (1810–1878). In 1861, Blaserna moved to Florence, where he stayed for two years, before being named professor of physics at the Royal University of Palermo, in 1863. In 1872, Blaserna was named professor of experimental physics at the the University of Rome, with the support of his Palermo colleague, the chemist Stanislao Cannizzaro (1826–1910), who came to Rome in 1871. In Rome, Blaserno oversaw the construction of the Institute of Physics, which opened on Via Panisperna in 1881. He also published what would be his best-known work, a popular treatise on the physics of music (Blaserna, 1876).

Blaserna was a member of several scientific academies, including the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (1873), which he presided from 1904 to 1916. He took part in various international scientific organizations, serving as secretary of the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures in 1901, and chairman of the General Assembly of the International Association of Academies in 1909. In 1890, Blaserna was named to the Senate, where he served on the Finance Committee and chaired the Prosecution Commission of the High Court of Justice. From 1904, he served as Vice-President of the Senate.

The correspondence between Blaserna and Poincaré appears to have been limited to the institutional realm of academy affairs. Blaserna wrote to Poincaré in 1888 as secretary of the Royal Lincei Academy when he was elected Foreign Member for Mathematics (§ 2-67-2). On the occasion of the centenary commemoration of the founding of the University of Berlin in October, 1910, Blaserna represented the University of Rome, while Poincaré represented the University of Paris. At the luncheon held at the Royal Palace on 13 October, both men were seated at the Kaiser’s table.

Blaserna’s appreciation of Poincaré’s contributions to physics is reflected in the letter of nomination he sent to the Nobel Committee for Physics on 14 January, 1910, in support of Poincaré’s candidacy for the Nobel prize (§ 2-62-34). On this occasion, Blaserna maintained his previous nomination of René Benoît and Édouard Guillaume for the prize, while “associating himself entirely” with Gaston Darboux’s proposition (with Paul Appell and Ivar Fredholm) in favor of Poincaré (§ 2-62-24).

Time-stamp: " 4.12.2024 16:44"

Notes

• 1 On Blaserna’s career in science and politics, see Focaccia (2019).