Gian Francesco Malfatti

Giovanni Francesco Giuseppe Malfatti, also known as Gian Francesco or Gianfrancesco (26 September 1731 to 9 October 1807), was an Italian mathematician best known for posing the Malfatti problem, and the first mathematician to solve the quintic using a resolvent of sixth degree. Born at Ala in Trentino, then in the Holy Roman Empire, he studied at the University of Bologna, where his mentors included Vincenzo Riccati, Laura Bassi, F. M. Zanotti and Gabriele Manfredi. He moved to Ferrara in 1754 and became a professor at the University of Ferrara when it was re-established in 1771. In 1782 he was one of the founders of the Società Italiana delle Scienze, set up by Antonio Maria Lorgna and later the Accademia nazionale delle scienze detta dei XL. After Napoleon's invasion of Italy he reluctantly collaborated with the French.