A physicist and mathematician born in Leghorn, Gonnella was appointed professor of mathematics and mechanics at the Accademia di Belle Arti [Academy of Fine Arts] of Florence in 1829. He took part in the Third Congress of Italian Scientists, held in Florence in 1841, where he presented some improvements in the Newtonian telescope. He was in contact with the Museo di Fisica e Storia Naturale of Florence, which employed him as an instrument-restoration consultant. At the London International Exhibition of 1862, he presented a calculating machine that obtained an honorable mention.