Luigi Cremona's Years in Bologna: From Research to Social Commitment

Luigi Cremona (1830–1903), unanimously considered to be the man who laid the foundations of the prestigious Italian school of Algebraic Geometry, was active at the University of Bologna from October 1860, when assigned by the Minister Terenzio Mamiani (1799–1885) to cover the Chair of Higher Geometry, until September 1867 when Francesco Brioschi (1824–1897) called him to the Politecnico di Milano. The “Bolognese years” were Cremona’s richest and most significant in terms of scientific production, and, at the same time, were the years when he puts the basis for its most important interventions in the social and political life of the “newborn” kingdom of Italy. In this article we present these different aspects of Cremona’s life, with particular emphasis on the relationship of the geometer of Pavia with the academic life in Bologna, with students and colleagues.