Vitaliano Donati

Vitaliano Donati (8 September 1717 – 26 February 1762), born in Padua, Republic of Venice, was a medical doctor, archeologist, and botanist.

He was interested in the flora and fauna of the Adriatic, and in 1745 he published Della storia naturale marina dell'Adriatico.

In 1750 Charles Emmanuel III, king of Sardinia, offered him a chair of Botany and Natural history at the University of Turin.

He occupied the chair of Orto Botanico dell'Università di Torino from 1750 until his death.

He died on 26 February 1762 in the Indian Ocean, travelling on a Turkish ship to Mangalore in India.