Observatory with the Solar Tower rising on the left behind it. She was born Gabriella Conti in Rome in 1891. After graduating in physics at the
University of Naples in 1919, she became a mathematics and physics teacher at the "Pietro Giannone" high school in Benevento. At the same time, she began working as an assistant at the
Collurania-Teramo Observatory in
Teramo, in the
Abruzzo region of central Italy under the guidance of astronomer
Vincenzo Cerulli. She remained in both positions until April 1922 when she was transferred to the
Astronomical Observatory of the Campidoglio in Rome where she was an assistant and then a first-class astronomer. In 1923, she married Giuseppe Armellini, director of the Campidoglio Observatory and the main architect of the creation of its replacement, the Astronomical Observatory of the Campidoglio, on
Monte Mario, the highest of the hills surrounding Rome. The new observatory, inaugurated in 1938, was equipped with an imposing solar tower and modern instrumentation, which became very helpful to Conti's research. Her research in meteorology concerned the exact determination of Roman time, which the Observatory dutifully communicated to the municipality of Rome every day for the city's time service. During her career, Conti Armellini published in prestigious journals, such as the
Astronomische Nachrichten, the
Rendiconti edited by the Accademia dei Lincei and the
Memorie della società astronomica italiana. She retired in 1961, and some of her archives are kept at the Roman observatory. Gabriella Conti Armellini died on 8 November 1974 in Rome. == Honors ==