Vincenzo Briganti

Vincenzo Briganti (1766 to 1836) was an Italian medical doctor, naturalist and mycologist who served as a professor of materia medica at the University of Naples. Born in Salvitelle in Salerno, he studied philosophy and natural science at Salerno and then medicine at Naples, receiving his degree in 1789. His interest in natural science led him to travel and collect specimens of plants and insects, and one of his early works promoted the Linnean system. In 1809 he became professor of medical botany at Naples and began to collect plants of medical value. He wrote a book on the fungi of the Kingdom of Naples, Historia fungorum Regni Neapolitani, published after his death in 1848 and edited by his son Francesco, and he also examined and described molluscs. Pier Andrea Saccardo named the genus Brigantiella after him, and his plant collections were acquired by Orazio Comes.