CAPITÒ

ITALY (see also List of Individuals)

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24.10.1835 Palermo/I - 1.1.1909 Palermo/I

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Michele Capitò had received from the Palermo University education in architecture and eventually became interested in hydraulics and hydraulic structures. From the late 1860s, he presented works in these two branches mainly applied to actual water problems in Sicily. Among others, he published on the Palermo water supply and wastewater schemes, on the water resources of the largest Italian island, on its hydropower potential and on aspects of agricultural hydraulics as applied to Sicily. Among others his lecture notes on hydraulics, and hydraulic structures are noteworthy. Palermo figured at the beginning of the 20th century among the foremost Italian research centers of Italy and was able to keep this position until today.

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The Palermo Scuola di Applicazione per Ingegneri e Architetti was founded in 1860, following the foundation of the Italian State by Garibaldi. Its Hydraulic Institute was founded in 1880 by Capitò, who was then its first director until retirement in 1908. The University was organized as the then main hydraulic institution at the University of Naples. In turn, the Spanish rulers who had founded Naples University during their reign of the Two Sicilies copied it from the French Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. Capitò conducted some noteworthy studies on the hydraulic regime of Southern Italy, the so called Mezzogiorno; he proposed methods to increase the water supply in Sicily, one of the hot spots of Europe, and also investigated the problem of wastewater treatment. These works certainly came from consulting, an activity that is even today widespread for professors in Southern Europe.

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_{Alessi, G.F. (1974). Profilo storico dell'Istituto di Idraulica della Università di Palermo dalle origini al 1962. L'attività dell'Istituto di Idraulica: 1-59. Università: Palermo. P}

_{Anonymous (1909) Michele Capito. Annuario del Circolo Matematico Palermo: 116. Anonymous (1980). Capito. L'intitolazione dell'anfiteatro e l'incontro con gli ex allievi. 17 Convegno di Idraulica e Costruzioni Idrauliche Palermo 2: 269-280. P}

_{Capitò, M. (1901). Relazione sui lavori in corso per la conduttura d'acqua della fonte Santo Pancrazio. Papa: Modica.}

_{Capitò, M. (1902). Regime dei corsi d'acqua sotterranei in rapporto alla legislazione italiana: Rilievi sulla interpretazione data dal Prof. Gabba. Fiore: Palermo.}

_{Capitò, M. (1905). Acque della Sicilia e mezzi per accrescerle Palermo boccone del povero.}

_Palermo.

_{Capitò, M. (1907). Le derivazioni di acque subalvee nel Mezzogiorno. Battiato: Catania.}