Francois Santini (c. 1729 - 1784)

Francesco (Francois) Santini was an Italian cartographer and publisher who lived in Venice. He was a member of a family of publishers who specialized in producing maps and atlases, and his own contributions to the field helped to establish him as an important figure in the 18th-century cartographic world.

Santini was born in Venice around 1729 and was the son of Paolo Santini, a prominent map publisher. In the mid-18th century, he joined his father's business and began to produce maps and atlases of his own. Santini collaborated with other prominent cartographers of the time, including Jean-Baptiste Nolin and Giovanni Rizzi Zannoni, and his works were highly regarded for their accuracy and detail.

One of Santini's most important contributions to the field of cartography was his publication of a multi-volume atlas called the "Atlas Universel," which was first published in 1776. The atlas contained maps of all the known regions of the world, and was notable for its use of the latest scientific and geographical information available at the time. Santini's maps were known for their detail and accuracy, and were highly regarded by both scholars and navigators.

Santini died in Venice in 1784, but his legacy continued through the work of his family's publishing business. His maps and atlases continued to be produced and updated by his son and grandson, and the Santini family's cartographic output remained an important resource for scholars and explorers throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, Santini's works are highly prized by collectors and are regarded as important examples of 18th-century cartography.