Alessandro Volta: Key Facts

Key facts about the life and times of Alessandro Volta: life, birth, death, key discoveries, contributions to electrical science and the like.

Alessandro Volta Biography Includes:
Volta biography Inventions Key Facts

Alessandro Volta was one of the key pioneers in early electrical science. In recognition for the work he undertook his name has been given to the unit of electromotive force and voltage.

There are many important Alessandro Volta facts that are summarised in the table below.

Alessandro Volta facts

A summary of some of the chief facts about Alessandro Volta: facts about his life, his discoveries and the positions he held, etc.

Key Alessandro Volta Facts
Fact	Details
Full Name	Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta
Birth date	18 February 1745
Birth place	Como, Northern Italy
Father	Formerly a Jesuit priest - Filippo Volta
Mother	Donna Maddalena
Sons	Zanino, Flaminio, and Luigi
Death	5 May 1827 in Como
Education	Initially at the school of rhetoric in Como
First employment	Lecturer at the Royal School in Como
Longest position held	Professor of experimental physics at the University of Pavia - position held for almost 40 years from 1779.
Major discoveries	Developed the first electrical battery
Also known for	Discovery of Methane (isolated the gas in 1778)
Also studied	Electrical capacitance
Honours awarded to him	Copley Medal (1794), Legion of Honour, Order of the Iron Crown

These are just a few of the main Alessandro Volta facts. During his life he contributed a great amount, not only to electrical science but also chemistry.