author
Francesco Torti
1658–1741
An Italian physician from Modena, he became known for bringing careful observation to the study of fevers and for helping establish cinchona bark as a treatment for malaria. His work sits at an important moment when medicine was beginning to move toward clearer classification and evidence from practice.
1 Audiobook
Ephemerides Barometricae Mutinenses (anni M.DC.XCIV) Cum Disquisitione Causae ascensus ac descensus Mercurii in Torricelliana fistula iuxta diversum Aeris statum
by Bernardino Ramazzini, Giovan Battista Boccabadati, Francesco Torti
About the author
Born in Modena in 1658, Francesco Torti was an Italian physician and anatomist who built his reputation early. Sources describe him as a professor of medicine at the University of Modena, later entrusted with anatomical work, and as physician to the dukes of Modena and Reggio.
He is best remembered for his study of fevers, especially malarial fevers. In his 1712 book Therapeutice specialis ad febres quasdam perniciosas, he set out a practical classification of fevers and argued for the use of cinchona bark in intermittent fevers, an important step in the history of malaria treatment.
Torti was also recognized beyond Italy, including election to the Royal Society. He died in Modena in 1741, and his name remains closely linked with the early medical understanding of malaria and the therapeutic promise of cinchona, the source later associated with quinine.