| Authorised form of name | Finch; Sir; John (1626 - 1682); physician and diplomat |
| Dates | 1626 - 1682 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | London, England, Europe |
| Date of birth | 1626 |
| Place of death | London, England, Europe |
| Date of death | 18 November 1682 |
| Dates and places | Burial:
Christ's College chapel, Cambridge, England, Europe (in the same vault as Sir Thomas Baines FRS 1663) (November 1682) |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Research field | Anatomy |
| Activity | Education:
Eton College; Mr Sylvester's School at Oxford; Christ's College, Cambridge (admitted 1645); Inner Temple (admitted 1644); Balliol College, Oxford (BA 1647); Incorporated at Cambridge (1647); MA (Cambridge 1649); Padua (MD 1660); Incorporated at Cambridge (1660)
Career:
English Consul at Padua and Syndic of the University; Professor of Anatomy at Pisa (1659-1665); Returned to England (1661); Minister to the Grand Duke of Tuscany (1665); Ambassador to Ottoman court in Constantinople (1672-1681); went on special mission to Adrianople (1675)
Honours:
Kt 1661
Memberships:
Extra Fellow RCP (1661)
|
| Membership category | Original Fellow |
| Date of election | 20/05/1663 |
| Royal Society activity | Committee and panels:
Mechanical Committee (1664); Nominated for the Committee to improve the English language (1664) |
| Other Royal Society activity | Whilst in Italy and Turkey, Finch acted as the Royal Society correspondent in these areas; Tasked with enquiries into poisons while in Italy (1664) |
| Relationships | Parents: Sir Heneage Finch and Frances Bell
Siblings: Half-sister Anne Conway, Viscountess Conway and Killultagh
Additional relatives: uncle of Daniel Finch (FRS 1668) |
| General context | In his role as correspondent for the Royal Society in Italy and Turkey, and as an English resident in Florence, Finch - known in Italy as Giovanni Fink - was involved in the significant literary and natural philosophers' circles of his time. He enjoyed a good reputation as an anatomist and performed dissections at the Arcispedale of Santa Maria Novella. Furthermore, he was a member of the circle of Prince Leopoldo de'Medici, who was a patron of the Accademia del Cimento and with whom he maintained correspondence. His main treatise survived him as a manuscript and show a refute of Descartes and Henry More, his tutor, in the areas of materialism and sense-based epistemology. |
| Sources | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; Venn; Foster; ODNB
References:
R E W Maddison, 'The Accompt of William Balle from 28 November 1660 to 11 September 1663' in NR 1959 vol 14 pp 174-183
T L Underwood, 'Quakers and the Royal Society of London in the Seventeenth Century' in NR 1976-7 vol 31 pp 133-150
W E Knowles Middleton, 'Some Italian Visitors to the Early Royal Society' in NR 1978-9 vol 33 pp 157-173
Susana Gomez Lopez, 'The Royal Society and Post-Galilean Science in Italy' in NR 1997 vol 51 pp 35-44
Notes:
The election date is Finch's election date into the Society after the grant of the second charter in April 1663. All Fellows admitted in a two-month window after this charter, until 22 June 1663, are considered Original Fellows. |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/13116680 |
| Royal Society code | NA8054 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| Reference number | Title | Date |
| EL/O1/20 | Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to John Finch, dated at London | 7 December 1665 |
| EL/O1/77 | Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to John Finch, dated at London | 4 September 1668 |
| EL/F1/44 | Letter, from John Finch to Henry Oldenburg, dated at Florence | 14 July 1668 |
| EL/O1/98 | Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to John Finch, dated at London | 14 January 1669 |
| EL/O1/26 | Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to John Finch, dated at London | 10 April 1666 |