Vittorio Simonelli (May 1860, in Arezzo – 9 February 1929, in San Quirico d'Orcia) was an Italian geologist and paleontologist.
From 1883 he taught classes in physical geography at Pisa, later travelling to Munich, where in 1889/90 he studied paleontology with Karl von Zittel and August Rothpletz.
[1] In 1903 he returned to Bologna as a teacher of geology at the Royal School of Engineers ("Regia Scuola d'Applicazione per gli Ingegneri"), and during the following year took on additional duties as an instructor of geology and mineralogy at the Royal School of Agriculture ("Regia Scuola Superiore di Agraria"), also in Bologna.
During his career, he travelled widely, taking scientific trips throughout Italy, and to Crete, Cephalonia, Podolia, Palestine, Galicia and North Africa.
[1] In 1893 he was the first to identify the remains of prehistoric elephants on Crete, being located in three cave sites near the city of Rethymno.