born Sept. 9, 1737, Bologna, Papal States
died Dec. 4, 1798, Bologna, Cisalpine Republic
Italian physician and physicist.
His early research focused on comparative anatomy, including the structure of kidney tubules and the middle ear. His developing interest in electricity was inspired by the fact that dead frogs underwent convulsions when attached to an iron fence to dry. He experimented with muscular stimulation by electrical means, using an electrostatic machine and a Leyden jar, and from the early 1780s animal electricity remained his major field of investigation. His discoveries led to the invention of the voltaic pile, a kind of battery that makes possible a constant source of current electricity.