Donati.

Donati. GIAMBATTISTA, astronomer, born at Pisa in 1826, was appointed in 1852 assistant at the observatory in Florence, of which he became director in 1864. Here he discovered, inter alia, the brilliant comet of 1858, which is known as Donati's comet (see COMET). He afterwards was instrumental in erecting the fine observatory at Arcetri, near Florence, and constructed a spectrocope of twenty-five prisms. He died 20th September 1873.