International Statistical Review (2007), 75, 2, 127–130 doi:10.1111/j.1751-5823.2007.00009.x Summary

Cantelli was born in Palermo, Sicily. He attended the local university where he graduated in 1899 in mathematics with a thesis on celestial mechanics. Cantelli’s advisor, Filippo Angelitti, was Director of the Palermo Astronomical Observatory, and he began working as Angelitti’s assistant while still a student. Cantelli remained at the Observatory until 1903. His first publications were about various topics in astronomy and celestial mechanics, including a remarkable study (Cantelli, 1958, 1–45) of the positions of celestial bodies as described by Dante Alighieri in the Divina Commedia, a favorite topic of Angelitti’s. Based on this study, Cantelli was able to conclude that Dante’s masterpiece was probably written in the year 1301 rather than in 1300 as claimed by some commentators. During this formative period Cantelli became interested in probability and statistics, the knowledge of which is indispensable for dealing with observational errors in astronomy. In 1903 Cantelli successfully competed for a position as an actuary with one of the major banks in Rome, where he remained for the next 20 years. During this period, despite intense professional activity, Cantelli managed to remain active in research, publishing a number of important papers on probability, mathematical statistics, financial mathematics, and mathematical economics. He also maintained close contacts with members of the mathematical community at the University of Rome, particularly with Guido Castelnuovo (1865–1952), in an effort to encourage mathematicians’ interest in the study of probability theory, which Cantelli regarded as a branch of mathematical analysis. This point of view was not widely held during the early years of the 20th century.