Baldassarre Boncompagni
Prince Baldassarre Boncompagni-Ludovisi, was an Italian historian of mathematics and aristocrat. Considered the founder of the Italian school for the history of mathematics, Boncompagni was one of the most prominent figures in the field in the second half of the nineteenth century. He is best known for his extensive research and publications on the transmission of mathematical knowledge from the Arab world to Christian Europe, with a particular focus on medieval scholars and mathematicians.
Biography
Boncompagni was born in Rome, into an ancient noble and wealthy Roman family, the Ludovisi-Boncompagni, as the third son of Prince Luigi Boncompagni Ludovisi and Princess Maria Maddalena Odescalchi. He studied under the mathematician Barnaba Tortolini and astronomer Ignazio Calandrelli, developing an interest in the history of science. In 1847 Pope Pius IX appointed him a member of the Accademia dei Lincei. Between 1850-1862 he produced studies on mathematicians of the Middle Ages and in 1868 founded the Bullettino di bibliografia e di storia delle scienze matematiche e fisiche. After the annexation of the Papal States into the Kingdom of Italy, he refused further participation in the new Academy of the Lincei, and did not accept the appointment as Senator of the Kingdom offered by Quintino Sella. He did, however, serve as a member of several other Italian and foreign academies.Boncompagni edited Bullettino di bibliografia e di storia delle scienze matematiche e fisiche, the first Italian periodical entirely dedicated to the history of mathematics. He edited every article that appeared in the journal. He also prepared and published the first modern edition of Fibonacci's Liber Abaci.