Giovanni Battista Brocchi was an Italian mineralogist and geologist born in Bassano del Grappa in 1772. He studied at the University of Padua but focused on mineralogy and botany. His most important work detailed the structure of the Apennine mountains and fossils in Italian strata. He explored the geology of Egypt but died of illness in Khartoum in 1826. The Liceo Ginnasio Statale "G. B. Brocchi" is located in Bassano del Grappa, named after Brocchi. The town's name was changed after World War I to honor soldiers killed on nearby Mount Grappa. The school founded