Agostino Gemelli, born Edoardo Gemelli (Milan 18 January 1878 - Milan 15 July 1959), physician, psychologist, Franciscan friar, founder and rector of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan.
He was born into a wealthy family. He obtained his degree in Medicine at the University of Pavia discussing a thesis for which Camillo Golgi was the supervisor. During his university years he was a student of the Ghislieri College and in harmony with this environment he developed positivist and anti-clerical ideas. Driven both to study and to action, he devoted himself to social struggles in the socialist ranks.
In the following years in Milan a radical change of ideals matured and in November 1903 he entered the Franciscan convent of Rezzato, near Brescia, assumed the name of Agostino and was ordained a priest on 14 March 1908.
From 1919 he dedicated himself to the birth of the Catholic University, a university for which, despite the difficulties encountered due to its model close to that of state universities, he obtained pontifical recognition
In the University Padre Gemelli set up a modern institute of psychology in which advanced research on perception, language, personality, applications of psychology to professional orientation and personnel selection are developed.
He was among the first to fully grasp the social function of psychology.