A native of Venafro in the Province of Isernia, Leopoldo Pilla was an eclectic scientist of multifold interests. He also studied Italian literature and language with ardent enthusiasm. He owes his greatest fame, however, to his research in the field of geology. In 1841 he was named Professor of Mineralogy at the University of Naples, but the following year, subsequent to a request made by the Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopold II, whom he had met in Naples, he was called upon to occupy the Chair of Mineralogy and Geology at the University of Pisa. His numerous published works showed him to be one of the leading geologists of the first half of the 19th century. He frequently represented the University of Pisa at Congresses of Italian scientists. A liberal, he favoured the Risorgimental ideals. He was commander of the First Company among the Volunteers of the Pisa University Batallion who went to Lombardy to fight for the independence of Italy. He died on May 29, 1848, in the historic Battle of Curtatone.