Born at Itala on May 6, 1816, he was educated at the school of Antonio Catara Lettieri (1809-1884), a literary figure and philosopher from Messina. Devoting himself subsequently to the scientific disciplines, he was awarded a degree in medicine by the University of Messina in 1838. In order to compete for the Chair of Agronomy, recently instituted at Messina, he enrolled in the Agricultural Institute founded by Cosimo Ridolfi (1794-1865) at the Meleto farm, and travelled extensively through Europe. Called upon by Ridolfi to occupy the Chair of Agrarian Science at the University of Pisa, he accepted the post in 1845, becoming contemporaneously director of the Meleto Institute. Nominated member of the Academy of the Georgofili, he collaborated in editing the Giornale agrario toscano [Tuscan Agrarian Journal] and devoted himself to training a new class of agronomists. Among his most important works are the Lezioni di agricoltura [Lessons in Agriculture] (1869) and the Manuale dell’agricoltore, ovvero Guida per conoscere, ordinare e dirigere le aziende rurali [Agriculturalist's manual, or guide to knowing, ordering and directing rural estates] (1870).