FRANCESCO REDI: BIOGRAPHY, EXPERIMENT, CONTRIBUTIONS, AWARDS, RECOGNITIONS - ARTE - 2025

Francesco Redi (1626–1697) was an Italian-born physician, scientist, physiologist, and poet, recognized for being the first to debate the belief that insects are born by spontaneous generation. For this, he carried out experiments that showed how the worms came from the eggs laid by the flies.

He also conducted studies on the venom of vipers, discovering its production from the fangs and not from the gallbladder. Contrary to popular belief, he argued that the poisoning was due to the bite of the snake.

Portrait of Francesco Redi. Source: See page for author

The use of control as the basis of the biological experiment stands out among his contributions. He is considered the founder of experimental biology and helminthology, a branch of zoology that is responsible for studying parasitic worms.

Redi also enjoyed artistic gifts and achieved recognition from the literary societies of the time. He is remembered for contributing to the elaboration of the first vocabulary of Arezzo. Also his work Bacco in Toscana, received the medal of honor from the Grand Duke Cosimo III and is considered one of the best Italian poems of the seventeenth century.

Biography

First years and academic training

Francesco Redi was born on February 18, 1626 in the city of Arezzo, belonging to the Tuscany region of Italy. He was the ninth child of Cecilia de Ghinci and Gregorio Redi, a renowned physician from Florence who worked at the Medici court.

His academic training began with the Jesuits. With them he learned theology, grammar, rhetoric, and the literary works permitted by the ecclesiastical authorities.

At age 21, he obtained his doctorate in medicine and philosophy at the University of Pisa. Before settling in Florence in 1648, he worked in various Italian cities such as Rome, Naples, Bologna, and Padua.

Work and research

He served as chief physician of the Medici Court, as well as being superintendent of the ducal apothecary of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando II de Medici and his son Cosimo III.

In those years he carried out most of his academic works in science, among which his phrase Omne vivum ex vivo will be famous, which translates as “every living being comes from another living being”.

There are no records that indicate that Redi ever married, although it is said that she had a son, who was widely recognized in the literary field. In his later years, he began to suffer from epilepsy and his propensity for hypochondria accompanied him until the time of his death.

Last years

At the age of 71, on March 1, 1697, Francesco Redi passed away in his sleep in the city of Pisa, located in the Italian region of Tuscany. His remains were transferred to Arezzo for burial in the church of San Francesco.

Today, the United States National Library of Medicine, located in Bethesda, Maryland, maintains a collection of his letters. In the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, a statue of Francesco Redi stands, along with a copy of his most famous poem at his feet.

Redi's experiment

Francesco Redi's observation on live animals found within living animals. Source;: Francesco Redi

Among Redi's works, the experiments that he carried out to disprove spontaneous generation marked a historic milestone. In addition to its revealing conclusions, it was the first time that the concept of control was applied, comparing it with other results and increasing the reliability of the experiments.

The first phase of the experiment consisted of 6 bottles divided into two groups. In the first of each group he placed an unknown object, in the second, a dead fish, and in the third, a piece of raw meat.

The first group of jars was covered with a thin gauze, so that air could enter, while the second group was left without a top cover. After several days he observed how worms appeared in the opened jars.

In the second phase of the experiment, he placed a piece of meat in three jars. The first was uncovered and the other two were covered with cork or gauze. The same result was presented: worms appeared only in the open jar, since the flies were able to enter and lay their eggs. In the one that had the gauze some insects were born, but they did not survive.

A third phase consisted of capturing flies and worms to place them in a jar sealed with a piece of meat. In the containers that contained the dead insects, worms did not appear, but where the living ones were arranged, they did appear and later became flies.

Contributions

One of the most significant contributions of the Italian scientist was undoubtedly his conclusions about biogenesis, which denies the theory of spontaneous generation that prevailed for more than 2,000 years.

Previously it was believed that insects arose from decomposing animals or plants, but Redi's experiments supported the principle that only living things can produce other living things.

Therefore, rotten organic substances would only be the right place for other species to dispose of their seeds or eggs. In the specific case of his famous experiment, the flies laid the eggs from which the worms hatched. His conclusions were presented in his renowned work Esperienze Intorno Alla Generazione Degli 'Insetti (1668).

Redi's research includes the description and recognition of some 180 parasites, including Fasciola hepatica and Ascaris lumbricoides, respectively causing cachexia in cattle and ascariasis in humans. Thanks to his observations, earthworms could be differentiated from helminths, parasites that can cause diseases in man.

In addition, the ideas that he presented in his work Osservazioni intorno agli animali viventi, che si trovano negli animali viventi (1684) served as the basis to explain the cause of scabies, which was elaborated by his naturalist colleagues, Giovanni Cosimo Bonomo and Giacinto Cestoni.

Francesco's observations on medicine were published posthumously in the work Medical Consultations, between the years 1726 and 1729. It is also worth mentioning his work Experiments around various natural things, and especially those brought from the Indies (1671), in the one that criticizes popular superstitions and insisted on the need to carry out observations and experiments.

Beginnings of experimental toxicology

Redi also carried out studies on the venom of snakes, which he disseminated in his work Osservazioni intorno alle vipere (1664). His conclusions include the origin of the snake's venom, which was not related to the gallbladder, but was produced by two hidden glands in its fangs.

He also managed to disprove myths such as that the venom of snakes was harmful if drunk or that his head could serve as an antidote. With her experiments around the bite of vipers, she showed that the poison only causes an effect when it enters the bloodstream, being able to avoid its passage, and reaching the heart, with a tight ligature in the wound. In this way experimental toxicology took its first steps.

Writing career

Apart from scientific works, Redi cultivated literature and poetry. His collection of sonnets and the poem Verde y Gris have special recognition. Also Bacco in Toscana (1685) is one of his most famous artistic works, a dithyramb in 980 verses.

In the lyrical composition it alludes to the properties of Italian and, especially, Tuscan wines. Imagine the god of wine, Bacchus or Dionysus, his courtship and his beloved Ariadne dancing and enjoying a drink at the Poggio Imperiale.

The epistolary style also dominated him in an exemplary way. In the mode of a letter to Dr. Lorenzo Bellini, he presents his story The Hunchback of Peretola. In this he tells the story of a hunchback who wanted to be cured with fantastic remedies and is punished with a second hump.

The illustrious Italian was appointed professor of language at the Academy of Florence and highlights his research on the vocabulary of Arezzo, where some identify the beginnings of modern dialectology and the history of the language.

In the Tuscan region, he was considered the "arbiter of literature", having as students outstanding Italian writers such as Federico Marchetti, Salvino Salvini, Vincenzo da Filicaia and Benedetto Menzini.

Awards and honours

Among the recognitions that this illustrious Italian received in life, there are three medals of honor from Grand Duke Cosimo III: one for his poem Bacco in Toscana and the other two for his research in medicine and his work in natural history.

Redi was a member of the Accademia de Lincei, as well as the Accademia del Cimento between 1657 and 1667, one of the first scientific societies that provided contributions in the creation of laboratory instruments, measurement standards and experimentation.

In tribute to his contributions, a crater on Mars bears his name. Also a larval stage and a subspecies of European viper were inspired by her surname.

In addition, the Italian magazine of zoology with the name Redia was founded. Additionally, the International Toxicology Society awards the Redi Prize every three years.

References

1. Wikipedia contributors. (2019, December 9). Francesco Redi. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Recovered from en.wikipedia.org
2. Redi, Francesco. (2019, December 1). Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Recovered from Encyclopedia.com
3. Francesco Redi. (2019, November 06). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Recovered from es.wikipedia.org
4. Encyclopædia Britannica (2019, February 25). Francesco Redi. Recovered from britannica.com
5. Francesco Redi. (2016, November 12). Famous Scientists. Recovered from. famousscientists.org
6. Ruiza, M., Fernández, T. and Tamaro, E. (2004). Biography of Francesco Redi. In Biographies and Lives. The Biographical Encyclopedia Online. Barcelona, ​​Spain). Recovered from biografiasyvidas.com