Famitz (170)

“Signor Famitz” (fl. 1768). A member of this name was elected to the American Society on April 15, 1768, on the recommendation of APS members Dr. John Morgan and the English consul at Naples Isaac Jamineau, who described Famitz as a physician and professor of botany at the university there. No first name was given, and scholars have not been able to find any further information about Famitz or to identify him with any known resident of Naples or professor at the university. Whitfield J. Bell, Jr. speculates that Jamineau may have confused him with Domenico Maria Leone Cirillo, a more easily identified Italian polymath who fits the description of Famitz’s achievements but appears nowhere in the Society’s minutes as an elected member. (PI)