Domenico Griminelli

Domenico Griminelli was an Italian mathematician and Catholic priest of the seventeenth century from Correggio in Emilia-Romagna. In 1656 he published a tutorial on arithmetic for shopkeepers and merchants, Novissima prattica d'aritmetica mercantile, meaning Brand-new practice of mercantile arithmetic, which became known outside Italy and was reprinted for two centuries. Its introduction echoed Plato in declaring numbers to be a divine gift without which civilization would vanish, and the work was dedicated to Cardinal Girolamo Gastaldi, General Treasurer of the Apostolic Camera.