Leonardo Salimbeni (Split, 1752 – Verona, 1823)
Salimbeni, son of a Venetian general, studied at the Verona military school from 1765 to 1771, which he left as a lieutenant of the engineering corps, the best in his promotion batch. He came back to the school in 1774 as a professor of mathematics, fortification and artillery, was promoted to captain in 1782 and was made deputy commander of the school in 1787, being de facto director in 1795-96. He was admitted to Cisalpine service as an engineer brigade chief and director of the Modena school in August 1797, a post he held until the evacuation of the school in 1799. He commanded the engineering corps while Bianchi d’Adda was War Minister, then was commander of the engineering corps on the right bank of the Po river as of 20 October 1801. On 11 May 1804 he was appointed secretary general of the War Ministry, and on 31 of the same month was promoted to brigadier. On 24 July 1805 Napoleon decreed that “Salimbeni is no longer employed in his Kingdom of Italy”.
In 1786 he was admitted to the Society of the XL, having already published the following: Salimbeni, Leonardo. 1780. Opuscoli di geometria e di balistica. Verona: Moroni and Id. 1782. Ricerche sulle equazioni di terzo grado, Verona: Dionigi Ramanzini. His most important publication came only slightly later: Id. 1787. Degli archi e delle volte. Verona: Dionigi Ramanzini, 6 vols. He also contributed to the Memorie di matematica e fisica della Società Italiana, t. IV, V, VII. Finally, from 1789 he was a member of the Science, Literature and Arts Academy of Mantua, that of Padua from 1790 and a member of the Bologna Institute from 1795 on. (Cf. MSA, WO 1837, 2033, 546, Canevazzi, Giovanni. 1914. La Scuola militare di Modena 1756-1914, I vol. Modena: Giovanni Ferraguti: 167-206).