1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/De Filippi, Filippo

DE FILIPPI, FILIPPO (1860–), Italian scientist and explorer, was born at Turin April 6 1869. He studied medicine at the university of Turin, and became an assistant in the surgical clinic of the university of Bologna, occupying later the same position at Genoa. He subsequently became reader in operative surgery at Bologna, and pursued researches of great value in physiological and biological chemistry. In 1897 he joined the expedition of the Duke of the Abruzzi to Alaska as scientific observer, and took part in the ascent of Mount St. Elias. In 1906 Signer de Filippi again accompanied the Duke of the Abruzzi on an expedition to the Ruwenzori range of central Africa. The first detailed map of the higher part of this mountain region was a result of this journey, together with many valuable geo- logical and other observations. In 1909 de Filippi went with the Duke's expedition to the western Himalaya and Karakoram mountains, when a peak 24,600 ft. in height, close to Mount Godwin-Austen, or K2, was ascended. He later (1913–4) organized and led an important scientific expedition to the Karakoram mountains and central Asia, under the auspices of the Indian and Italian Governments, and for his valuable investigations received in 1916 an hon. K.C.I.E. from the Indian Government. He has also received many honours from British and foreign scientific societies, and is a gold medallist of the English and Italian Royal Geographical Societies. During the World War he served in the Italian army medical service, and also lectured in England on subjects connected with the war.

He has published The Ascent of Mount St. Elias (1900); Ruwenzori (1909) and Karakoram and Western Himalaya (2 vols. 1912); besides many papers in scientific journals.