What was the family name of Galileo's brother Michelagnolo?

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Galileo's brother Michelagnolo had the family name Galilei.

Michelagnolo Galilei, sometimes rendered Michelangelo Galilei, was born in Florence in 1575. He was the younger brother of Galileo Galilei and the son of Vincenzo Galilei, a respected lutenist, composer, and music theorist. Like his father, Michelagnolo became a professional lutenist and composer rather than a scientist.

After their father died in 1591, Galileo—then working in Padua—became responsible for helping his teenage brother. Michelagnolo sought musical employment in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and later joined the court orchestra in Munich, where he remained for the rest of his life.

His published music included dances and other works for the ten-course lute. His first book of lute music appeared in Munich in 1620. The brothers' relationship was complicated: surviving letters show Michelagnolo repeatedly asking Galileo for financial assistance and help with family difficulties.

The distractors refer to other important Italian names. Barberini is associated with Pope Urban VIII, Medici with the ruling Florentine family, and Gamba with Marina Gamba, the mother of Galileo's children.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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