Francesco Selmi

Francesco Selmi (7 April 1817 – 13 August 1881) was an Italian chemist and patriot, one of the founders of colloid chemistry.

Francesco Selmi
Born	7 April 1817 Vignola, Duchy of Modena and Reggio
Died	13 August 1881 (1881-08-14) (aged 64) Vignola, Kingdom of Italy
Nationality	Italian
Alma mater	Modena
Known for	Colloidal chemistry, Toxicology
Scientific career
Fields	chemistry

Selmi was born in Vignola, then part of the Duchy of Modena and Reggio. He became head of a chemistry laboratory in Modena in 1840, and a professor of chemical pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Bologna in 1867. He published the first systematic study of inorganic colloids,^[1][2][3] in particular silver chloride,^[4] Prussian blue,^[5] and sulfur,^[6] in the period 1845–50. He died in Vignola on the 13th of August, 1881, at age 64, due to sepsis that he contracted while dissecting a dead animal for his research on typhoid fever.