Giacomo Luigi Ciamician, Armenian Chemist, the Pioneer of Solar Energy Idea

Giacomo Luigi Ciamician, a prominent Armenian chemist, inventor, president of the Italian chemical company, member of the Italian National Academy of Sciences, member of the Royal Academy of Rome, London Royal Society, Padua and Genoa Royal Academies, foreign correspondent at the Petersburg Academy of Sciences, member of the Italian Senate, Bologna University Professor:
Giacomo Luigi Ciamician was born on August 27, 1857 in Trieste, Italy, to an Armenian merchant's family. He received school education in Trieste. Thanks to Augusto Vierthaler, his teacher, he began to be interested in chemistry.
After finishing school, Ciamician continued his studies at the University of Vienna then in Giessen, where he received a doctorate degree at the age of 23.
Ciamician's contribution to spectroscopy, organic chemistry, plant chemistry, natural compounds, and organic photochemistry was significant.
Ciamician was engaged in spectroscopy still a student. At that time, his discovery led to the idea of creating atomic energy levels.
In the field of organic chemistry, Ciamician was involved in the study of components of natural resin. In 1885, thanks to him, an antiseptic substance, called iodol, was discovery what was considered a most important contribution to pharmacology.
His major contribution to plant chemistry was the discovery that chlorophyll activity was stimulated by the effects of caffeine or norobromine (chocolate caffeine) in plants, which leads to starch production. This showed that alkaloids are not a waste of plant life but have a rather important role as hormones in the animal world.
Ciamician's contribution to organic photochemistry is colossal. He mainly studied the chemical effect of light on compounds. As a result of the research, 85 works were published, two of which were named after Ciamician.
Ciamician's discoveries in organic photochemistry were absolutely novel in the field of organic chemistry of that time. Thanks to them, he was ranked among the greatest chemists of his day.
Ciamician is also considered to be the prophet of solar energy idea. For many years, studying the effects of light on chemical reactions he realized the potential of solar energy application to humanity and industry. 1912 Ciamician even built a solar battery and placed it on the roof of his laboratory. It gave enough energy to charge a lamp in the room. His study eventually led to the idea that sunlight could be used as a source of energy.
Moreover, during the First World War Ciamician was engaged in researching chemical weapons and developed measures for protection against them.
Apart from the scientific activity Ciamician also actively engaged in politics. In 1910 he was appointed member of the Italian Senate. He was also a member of the Bologna City Council.
The Armenian inventor died on August 22, 1922, at the age of 64.
After his death, one of the streets of Trieste, where he spent his childhood, was renamed Giacomo Ciamician Street. Bologna University's Chemistry Institute is also named after him. In 1997, Yerevan Applied Chemistry College was named after him too.
Other materials on this subject
- Alenush Teryan: Iran’s First Female Astronomer and Founder of First Solar Observatory “My daughter’s name is sun, my son’s name is moon”, would say Iran’s first astronomer and founder of the first solar observatory Alenush Teryan.
- Armenian Hakob Martayan - the Founder of the Modern Turkish Language When Kemal Ataturk decided to implement a reform of the Turkish language and translate the Ottoman-Turkish language (Osmanli) from Arabian into the Latin alphabet, he requested Hakob Martayan to do the...
- Asatour Sarafian, the Inventor of Automatic Transmission For Automobiles Asatour Sarafian, was an Armenian American inventor who patented a number of works, including an automatic transmission for automobiles, the needleless inoculation gun, the primary controls of the first...
- Alexander Leonovich Kemurdzhian, Designer of the First Planet Rover The mission of Kemurdzhian’s life was the design of space technology and participation in the design of the world's first automatic self-propelled apparatus for research on the lunar surface.
- Armenian Anita Caracotchian: The First Female Oceanographer in the World “A part of my people lived at the sea for 300 years, we had glorious Cilicia, that harbored more than one thousand Armenian ships having tight commercial ties with the most powerful countries. After...
-
21:12
Meeting of Ararat Mirzoyan and Enrique Mora
-
20:11
A consultation on tax potential assessment held at Government
-
19:03
Russian MFA responds to the decision of the EU to deploy a new observation mission in Armenia
-
18:07
Armenia’s citizens to visit United Arab Emirates without visa
-
17:21
Wizz Air to start operating flights on several new routes
-
17:16
Gas supply to be restored in Stepanakert, but cut in the regions
-
17:13
Kremlin rules out any talks between Zelensky, Putin
-
17:04
The Secretary of the Security Council Had a Telephone Conversation with Kestutis Budrys
-
16:53
5-Day Weather Forecast in Armenia
-
16:45
Artsakh believes that "international anti-terrorist cooperation" must be considered to save blockaded 120,000 population
-
16:42
We Should Break Up with This Chain of Unworthy Compromises and Double Standards: Armen Gevorgyan's speech at PACE
-
16:34
New U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, arrives in Moscow
-
16:21
Azerbaijan leader attempts to assure France envoy that there is no blockade of Karabakh
-
16:00
First ever high-level EU-Armenia Political and Security Dialogue is taking place in Yerevan
-
15:35
Involvement of US, collective West in conflict in Ukraine grows: Kremlin
-
15:04
Vahagn Khachaturyan sent a congratulatory message to the Governor-General of Australia David Hurley
-
14:49
Artsakh government officials brief Canadian parliamentary committee on Azeri blockade
-
14:19
Efforts to focus international attention on the encroachments on the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh should be continued: Pashinyan
-
13:45
Alen Simonyan Meets with President of Football Association of Qatar
-
13:44
The First TUMO Center in Portugal to Open in 2023
day
week
month
-
16:47
Merkel’s, Hollande’s remarks on Minsk Accords signify betrayal: Russian top senator
-
12:10
NATO Secretary General says West should prepare for protracted conflict in Ukraine
-
16:19
5-Day Weather Forecast in Armenia
-
17:48
In the new year and coming years my only wish and counsel to our people is STRUGGLE: Serzh Sargsyan
-
14:17
Retired Pope Benedict XVI dies
-
17:59
Russian Foreign Ministry expresses concern over lack of progress in restoring Lachin corridor
-
10:04
People of Artsakh stand before the problem of realizing the right to life: Artsakh National Assembly President
-
15:14
Stranded citizens of Artsakh to spend New Year’s Eve honoring fallen troops at Yerablur cemetery in Yerevan
-
21:08
Garo Paylan urges Erdogan to take responsibility for ending the blockade of Nagorno- Karabakh
-
15:41
Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan leaves for consultations at home
Humidity: 79%
Wind: 0.51 km/h