Antonio Scarpa (1752-1832): Father of Italian Ophthalmology

Antonio Scarpa (1752-1832) was a prominent scholar who contributed greatly to otolaryngology, orthopedics, ophthalmology, neuroanatomy, and surgery. In 1801, he published a textbook on ophthalmology, the first Italian textbook on this subject and the most propagated European ophthalmic textbook in the first half of the 19th century. The book included important descriptions of lacrimal system disorders, many oculoplastic procedures, and the first description of posterior staphyloma.