Antonio Pacinotti

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Antonio Pacinotti (June 7, 1841 – May 22, 1912) was an Italian physicist, who was Professor of Physics at the University of Pisa.

Pacinotti was born in Pisa, where he also died. He is best known for inventing an improved form of direct-current electrical generator, or dynamo, which he described in a paper published in Il Nuovo Cimento of 1865. It used a ring armature around which was wrapped a coil of wire, to produce a smoother current than that available from previous types of dynamo. He found that the device could also be used as an electric motor.

In July 1862, Pacinotti was one of several independent discoverers of the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.

Lungarno Pacinotti, an embankment of the Arno River in Pisa, is named after him.