Paolo Giovio

Paolo Giovio (also spelled Paulo Jovio; Latin: Paulus Jovius; April 19, 1483 – December 11, 1552) was an Italian physician, historian, biographer, and prelate.

Biography

Little is known about Giovio's youth. He was a native of Como; his family was from the Isola Comacina of Lake Como. His father, a notary, died around 1500. He was educated under the direction of his elder brother Francesco, a humanist and historian. Although interested by literature, he was sent to Padua to study medicine. He graduated in 1511.

He worked as physician in Como but, after the spreading of the plague in that city he moved to Rome, settling there in 1513. Pope Leo X assigned him a cathedra of Moral Philosophy and, later, that of Natural Philosophy in the Roman university. He was also knighted by the Pope. In the same period he started to write historical essays. He wrote a memoir of Leo soon after his death.

In 1517 he was appointed as personal physician by the Cardinal Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici (the future pope Clement VII). In the field he wrote some treatises, like the De optima victus ratione, in which he expresses his doubts about the current pharmacology, and the need to improve prevention before the cure.

Liceo scientifico

Liceo scientifico (literally scientific lyceum) is a type of secondary school in Italy. It is designed to give students the skills to progress to any university or higher educational institution. Students can attend the liceo scientifico after successfully completing middle school (scuola media).

The curriculum is devised by the Ministry of Education, and emphasises the link between the humanistic tradition and scientific culture. It covers a complete and widespread range of disciplines, including Italian language and literature, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, history, philosophy, Latin language and culture, English language and culture, art history and technical drawing. Students typically study for five years, and attend the school from the age of 14 to 19. At the end of the fifth year all students sit for the esame di Stato, a final examination which leads to the maturità scientifica.

A student attending a liceo is called liceale, although the more generic terms studente (male) and studentessa (female) are also in common use. Teachers are known as professore (male) or professoressa (female).