Vincenzo Dandolo

Vincenzo Dandolo (born Oct. 12, 1758, Venice—died Dec. 12, 1819, Varese, Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia) was an Italian chemist and statesman, an innovator in both science and politics. He helped further democratic ideas in Italy, while his writings, especially on agriculture, won him a reputation throughout Europe.

Of modest origins, Dandolo, after studying chemistry at the University of Padua, became a champion of new scientific theories, especially those of the French chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier.

Politically, Dandolo played a significant role in the revolt against Venice’s oligarchy, and, as one of the principal leaders of its provisional municipality (May–October, 1797), he espoused democratic ideals, envisioning a democratic Italian, or at least Venetian, republic. With the fall of the municipality and the Treaty of Campo Formio (October 17), which gave control of Venice to Austria, Dandolo became senator of the Cisalpine Republic, the state created by Napoleon in 1797, and then went to France, where he wrote his chief political work, Les Hommes nouveaux, ou Moyens d’opérer une régéneration morale (1799; “The New Men, or Ways to Bring About a Moral Regeneration”).

In 1804 Napoleon appointed him general superintendent of Dalmatia. In the five years he held that post, he reorganized somewhat the administration of that province, jealously guarding Dalmatian interests as well as his own prerogatives, a policy that led to his recall. In 1809 he was made a count.

With the fall of Napoleon (1814), Dandolo returned to the huge estates he had amassed in Varese, where he devoted himself to scientific study and writing. His work on wool-bearing animals and on silkworms was notable.