In his fields as a physician and a physicist, Galvani’s research led to electrophysiology – the relationship of electric activity and biology. Born in Bologna (region of Emilia-Romagna), Galvani received two advanced degrees from the University of Bologna, Medicine and Philosophy. Some sources cite that his father was  a doctor, and Galvani followed his footsteps; others claim that Galvani’s first interest was theology, but his parents convinced him to study medicine. By his mid-twenties he lectured in Medicine at the University, and he became president of the Academy of Sciences of Bologna in 1772. As a lecturer in anatomy, Galvani conducted experiments on deceased animals and frogs; and in one experiment his assistant – standing close to an electrical machine – accidentally touched his scalpel to a nerve in the legs of a dissected frog, and the legs twitched. Galvani began researching what he named “animal electricity,” the discovery of electricity moving through cells in the tissue, which became the precursor to neurophysiology and neurology. Later, Alessandro Volta would use the term “galvanism” to describe the process.

 Galvani spent the next 10 years researching the effects of external electricity on animal tissue, and in 1791, published a paper on animal electricity. Two years later he published another paper defending his work. When Napoleon created the Cisalpine Republic in 1797, Bologna was included. Galvani refused to pledge an oath to the new Republic and he was forced to resign from the University. He died the following year.

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Luigi Galvani

The Legacy of Galvani and Volta in contemporary science