Giuseppe Maria Giovene (23 January 1753 – 2 January 1837) was an Italian archpriest, naturalist, agronomist, geologist, meteorologist, entomologist and ichthyologist. He is best known for his studies on the "nitrosity" of Pulo di Molfetta, which made him famous abroad, so as to be cited and appreciated by many Italian and foreign scholars, including Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann in a French publication. His scientific research, mainly focused agronomy, botany and meteorology, were not just theoretical and aimed at the mere research of natural phenomena, but their goal was to develop and improve agriculture in the Kingdom of Naples; this was a common feature of the scientific works of the earliest scientists of the Kingdom of Naples. He was member of many academies, among which the Società italiana delle scienze and, because of his being a polymath, he's been described as an "encyclopaedic mind". He was also a clergyman, and he held many important positions, including those of archpriest and apostolic vicar. He also became interested in numismatics, and he collected ancient coins and medallions, and he also possessed a collection of ancient Italo-Greek vases (called etruschi). He was also a spirit devoted to charity and modesty, so much that sometimes he preferred not to publish his articles, which were published by his colleagues, such as abbot Ciro Saverio Minervini. He was one of the first scientists of Apulia and he exhibited remarkable scientific skills, helping to eradicate "the prejudice against the good Apulian people of their being lazy and ignorant." His research activity was carried out using modern methods of observation and experimentation, "following the maxims of Galileo". "He liked to read the observations carried out by others, but he also liked to see the whole procedure with his own eyes".
Life
Early life Giuseppe Maria Giovene was born in Molfetta on 23 January 1753, son to Giovanni Giovene and Antonia Graziosi. His father, before dying, entrusted him to the bishop of Molfetta Celestino Orlandi, who instructed him up to the age of 8 and subsequently he studied with Jesuit clerics, who then lived in the Gran Collegio di Molfetta. Giovene studied there until the age of 12. In 1766, he went to Rome where he was admitted to the Jesuit novitiate, although he wasn't old enough, but after only eight months the Jesuit order was suppressed and the Jesuits expelled from the Kingdom of Naples. Giovene wanted to follow the Jesuits abroad but he couldn't because of an illness. During his childhood, he showed he did not love "juvenile amusements" and he preferred to adiscuss with learned men. When he returned to Molfetta after recovering from his illness, he studied philosophy and mathematics in the seminary of Molfetta under the direction of bishop Celestino Orlandi. Among other things he also studied law, and, as a boy, he began to show a predisposition for the natural sciences. He went to Naples, when he was only a cleric, and was recommended to Ciro Saverio Minervini and there he met learned and famous naturalists, such as Vincenzo Petagna. He also loved to discuss with his fellow citizens and naturalists, Giuseppe Saverio Poli and Ciro Saverio Minervini.
Return to Molfetta In 1773, he returned to Molfetta, and the bishop of Molfetta who had instructed him, Celestino Orlandi, wanted him to become a priest of the parish of the Church of Saint Stephen, in Molfetta. Despite Giovene's resistance, the bishop eventually forced him to participate in the parish priest's selection contest, which Giovene won. At that moment, however, Celestino Orlandi, his childhood tutor, died, and at that time he wrote the funeral praise Orazione pei solenni funerali di D. Celestino Orlandi (1775). In the meantime, Gennaro Antonucci was appointed as new bishop of Molfetta, who wanted him to be his apostolic vicar, probably because of his fame or his experience. Meanwhile, Giovene did not despise to help the poor, orphans, offering them free legal advice to protect against the abuses of the powerful. At that time, he was also in charge of teaching law at the Molfetta seminary. In order to become a vicar, he had to be a graduate, and thus he went to Naples to fulfill his duties. Once there, he took the chance to discuss with the scholars about art and natural history. Despite his many commitments, he always found time to devote himself to natural history. He was also appointed archpriest of the former Molfetta Cathedral.
The year 1799 During the Parthenopean Republic (1799), Giovene's friend Giuseppe Saverio Poli followed king Ferdinand IV of Naples to Sicily, and he entrusted to Giovene his house, his library, his tools and everything he owned. Giovene could not prevent the depredation made by force by some pro-French officers of the short-lived Parthenopean Republic. Many rare samples of natural history, such as "the wax tablets of the testaceous", ended up in the Paris Academy of Sciences.
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