Bruno Tozzi

Bruno Tozzi was an Italian monk, botanist and mycologist. An abbot of the Vallombrosan Order, he was a mentor for Pier Antonio Micheli who named the plant genus Tozzia in his honour.

Biography

Tozzi was born in Montevarchi and his father, Francesco di Simone Tozzi, came from Florence. He was ordained in the Vallombrosan Order on 5 May 1676. He took an interest in the study of nature, travelling into the Alps and across Italy, collecting natural history specimens. Along with Pier Antonio Micheli, he took an interest in the fungi and described many species with illustrations. His manuscript Sylva fungorum is preserved at the National [Central Library (Florence)|Biblioteca Nazionale in Florence]. Tozzi was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1715 and corresponded with James Petiver, Hans Sloane and other naturalists of the period. He was a founder of the Società Botanica Fiorentina. He lived a solitary life as a monk and died in Vallombrosa.