Bartolomeo Beccari


Jacopo Bartolomeo Beccari was an Italian chemist, one of the leading scientists in Bologna in the first half of the eighteenth century. He is mainly known as the discoverer of the gluten in wheat flour.

Life

Jacopo Bartolomeo Beccari was born in Bologna on 25 July 1682.
In 1737 he was the first to give courses in chemistry at an Italian university.
He carried out important research on the phosphorescence of bodies, and studied the measurement of the intensity of the light emitted.
He also studied the action of light on silver salts.
From his comments on foraminifera he is considered as one of the pioneers of microbiology.
Working at the Academy of Sciences of Bologna Institute, Beccari looked for ways to make populations resistant to famine through a new type of emergency diet.
Beccari died in Bologna on 18 January 1766.