XIMENES

ITALY (see also List of Individuals)

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27.12.1716 Trapani/I - 3.5.1786 Firenze/I

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Leonardo Ximenes was born into a noble family of Spanish origin. He was educated by Jesuits and there found enthusiasm in mathematics. He moved in 1748 to Florence to teach the son of a local Marchese. In parallel he was occupied with the development of a topographical map of the Tuscany Region. Later, he expanded his activities into physics, astronomy and of course hydraulics. In 1758, Ximenes was asked to investigate the hydraulic conditions of the Maremma Region South of Florence. Later, he also investigated the swamps around Lake Castiglione in the Umbria Province and there improved conditions for agriculture. Ximenes was the founder of the astronomical observatory of Florence in 1756, and acted as the geographer and the mathematician of the Grand Duke from 1761.

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Ximenes contributed significantly to the drainage of swampy land by improving the methods of land reclamation. As a "hydraulic engineer" he supervised the drainage of the marshlands in Maremma and the Padule around Bientina. He thereby introduced the "physical reduction" to drain large swampy regions by setting up a system of deep collector channels which allowed reducing the soil water content. Ximenes was one of the few of his era who had a vision for this project, because he would not only improve the agricultural conditions but in parallel develop also the independence of a region in terms of economy, social conditions and environment. He thus left behind a great work that served as an example for future similar actions.

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_{Ximenes, L. (1752). Dissertazione meccanica di due strumenti che posson servire alla giusta stima del viaggio maritimo e della velocità delle acque, e de'venti. Stamperia Imperiale: Firenze.}

_{Ximenes, L. (1769). Della maremma sinese. Firenze.}

_{Ximenes, L. (1780). Nuove sperienze idrauliche fatte ne' canali e nei fiumi. Bindi: Siena. Ximenes, L. (1782). Piano di operazioni idrauliche per ottenere la massima depressione del Lago di Sesto o sia di Bientina. Bonsignori: Lucca.}

_{Ximenes, L. (1785). Raccolta delle perizie ed opuscoli idraulici del signor abate Leonardo}

_{Ximenes. Allegrini: Firenze. http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/genscheda.asp?appl=SIM&xsl=biografia&lingua=ENG&chiave=300606 http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/genscheda.asp?appl=SIM&xsl=biografia&lingua=ENG& chiave=300606 http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/genscheda.asp?appl=SIM&xsl=biografia&lingua=ENG&chiave=300606 P http://www.gol.grosseto.it/puam/comgr/stor/tesi/bonifica/cap4_2.php http://wwwhttp://www.gol.grosseto.it/puam/scuole/albinia/nu_tecn/prod_mm/p_e_a/bonifica/ximenes.htm .gol.grosseto.it/puam/comgr/stor/tesi/bonifica/cap4_2.php http://www.gol.grosseto.it/puam/scuole/albinia/nu_tecn/prod_mm/p_e_a/bonifica/ximenes.htm}