Giovanni Marinello

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The biographical data on Giovanni Marinello or Marinelli, humanist doctor, philosopher, scholar, non-academic, scholar of science and literature, are few and fragmentary. He was probably born in Modena (some archival sources would like him to come from Naples or the province of Bari) from where he moved to Venice where he lives and will die around 1580. In Venice, in addition to practicing the art of medicine, he carries out an intense activity as editor and commentator of texts (among these some writings of Hippocrates), and writes works on various topics not necessarily related to medicine. Between 1562 and 1563 he published two treatises in the vernacular addressed to women, the first (The ornaments of women) is a repertoire of cosmetic advice, the other (Medicines belonging to the infirmities of women) deals with women's health in view of marriage, pregnancy and childbirth. He is the father of Lucrezia Marinella, a woman of letters and voice of the Querelle des Femmes and of Curzio, also a doctor and philosopher.