Description: (Entomologist)
Agostino Bassi was an Italian entomologist known for his pioneering work in the field of microbiology. He made significant contributions to the understanding of diseases caused by microorganisms, predating Louis Pasteur in the discovery of the germ theory of disease. Bassi's research on the muscardine disease of silkworms led to the identification of a parasitic fungus as the causative agent, which was later named after him. He also proposed that various diseases in animals and humans, such as measles, syphilis, and the plague, were caused by living microorganisms.