Born in Bagheria (Palermo) a few years after Sicily became part of the new Kingdom of Italy (1861), Bagnera was orphaned at a young age and grew up in very difficult circumstances having little financial support. He studied civil engineering in Palermo graduating in 1890. By the time he obtained his first internship, Bangers already had two publications in mathematics: “On the determinants that can be formed with the same elements” (1887), and “Sur une propriété des séries simplement convergences” (1888).
In 1895 Bagnera graduated in mathematics at University of Palermo and in 1899 obtained a professorship in algebra. In 1901 he was appointed professor of calculus to the University of Messina where he remained until earthquake that almost completely destroyed the city (1908). The following year, in 1909, together with Michele de Franchis, Bagnera received the Bordin Prize of the Academy of Paris for a work on hyperelliptic surfaces and started teaching at the University of Palermo until 1922. Bagnera then moved to the University of Rome where he taught until his death.
Bagnera was a member of the ‘ Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and honorary professor of the University of Washington. Author of a scientific production of excellent quality, although quantitatively limited, he loved the rigor substantial and perfect form, without pedantry. He was particularly interested in the theory of finite groups , of algebraic surfaces and Abelian functions.
Read More:
1. Treccani, http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giuseppe-bagnera_(Dizionario_Biografico)/
2. Wikipedia, https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Bagnera
364sicilianrolemodels 