Maria Luisa Righini Bonelli (1917–1981)

Maria Luisa Righini-Bonelli was born in Pesaro, Italy. She studied Spanish language and literature at the University of Florence, and then taught in the faculty of political science from 1948 to 1968. Beginning in 1942, she worked at the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza (Institute and Museum of the History of Science), a public museum and research library that she helped develop into a world renowned institution of learning. In 1961, she was named director of the Institute. Prof. Righini-Bonelli single-handedly saved most of the important treasures of the Institute during the 1966 Flood of Florence, an accomplishment featured in the July 1967 issue of National Geographic Magazine. She became a professor of the history of science at the University of Camerino in 1972, a position she held until her death. She was the editor or founder of various Italian and international history of science journals. She served as vice-president of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science, and was a member of the International Academy of the History of Science. She was the Italian consultant for the Dictionary of Scientific Biography. She was the author of numerous books, monographs, and scholarly articles, including works on Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo. In 1967, she received the Gold Medal of Merit for Culture and Art from the President of the Italian Republic. She was awarded the George Sarton Medal in 1979 by the History of Science Society. Prof. Righini-Bonelli died at age 64 in 1981. She was married to Prof. Guglielmo Righini, a noted astrophysicist.