Francesco Negri was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 photographer known not only as a pictorialist but for his innovative work in photomicroscopy

Micrograph

A micrograph or photomicrograph is a photograph or digital image taken through a microscope or similar device to show a magnified image of an item.Micrographs are widely used in all fields of microscopy.-Photomicrograph:...

 and in the development of the telephoto lens

Telephoto lens

In photography and cinematography, a telephoto lens is a specific type of a long-focus lens in which the physical length of the lens is shorter than the focal length. This is achieved by incorporating a special lens group known as a telephoto group that extends the light path to create a long-focus...

, and for his early experiments in Louis Ducos du Hauron

Louis Ducos du Hauron

Louis Arthur Ducos du Hauron was a French pioneer of color photography. He was born in Langon, Gironde and died in Agen....

’s techniques of colour photography. His scientific and cultural pursuits included botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

 and local history

Local history

Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context and it often concentrates on the local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history...

: in both fields his publications remain significant. He served as Mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Casale Monferrato

Casale Monferrato

Casale Monferrato, population 36,058, is a town and comune in the Piedmont region of north-west Italy, part of the province of Alessandria. It is situated about 60 km east of Turin on the right bank of the Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montferrato hills. Beyond the river lies the...

. In the meantime by profession he was a lawyer.

Biography

Negri was born in Tromello

Tromello

Tromello is a comune in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 35 km southwest of Milan and about 25 km west of Pavia...

 in Lomellina

Lomellina

The Lomellina is a geographical and historical area in the Pianura Padana of northern Italy, located in south-western Lombardy between the Sesia, Po and Ticino rivers....

 (PV

Province of Pavia

The Province of Pavia is a province in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. Pavia is the capital.It has an area of 2,965 km², and a total population of 493,753...

) to Angelo Maria Negri and Maria Magnaghi who were well-off and well-connected. He attended secondary school in Vigevano

Vigevano

Vigevano is a town and comune in the province of Pavia, Lombardy, northern Italy, which possesses many artistic treasures and runs a huge industrial business. It is at the center of a district called Lomellina, a great rice-growing agricultural centre...

, then took a law degree in Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

, graduating in 1861. The following year he moved to Casale Monferrato where he married Giulia Ravizza and pursued a career in a civil law

Civil law (legal system)

Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...

.

Negri died in Casale on 21 December 1924.

Further reading

• Francesco Negri fotografo a Casale. Milano: Centro Informazioni Ferrania, Coop. Il Libro Fotografico, 1969.
• Barbara Bergaglio and Pierangelo Cavanna (editors), Francesco Negri fotografo 1841-1924. Milano: Silvana, 2006