GIAN DOMENICO, an eminent publicist, was born in 1761, near Piacenza, and studied jurisprudence at Parma. His treatise on the Origin of Penal Law, published in 1791, was the beginning of his success. It is true that at first his own countrymen did not recognise the merits of his work. But the French, who gained a footing in Italy by the victory of Marengo, had become acquainted with his talents, and a series of important appointments was the consequence. He was made professor of jurisprudence in 1802 at the university of Parma. He was appointed one of the commission in 1806 for compiling a code of criminal procedure. He was translated in 1807 to the chair of civil law at Pisa. At length he was called to Milan in 1809 to lecture on legislative science. The latter part of Romagnosi's life, however, was attended by embarrassing circumstances. The general suppression of special chairs of law in 1817 deprived him of his situation. The scantiness of his savings obliged him to recur to private teaching. In the midst of his work a shock of paralysis impaired his strength. The Austrian government also kept a suspicious eye upon all his movements. He was thus forced to live in poverty and cautious obscurity till his death in 1835. Besides the work already mentioned, another important production of Romagnosi's is an Introduction to the History of Universal Public Law, in 2 vols., 8vo, Parma, 1806. His complete works were published in 5 vols., 8vo, Florence, 1834.