secretary of the Republic of Pisa

Customs officer of North Africa

“When my father, who had been appointed by his country as public notary in the customs at Bugia

acting for the Pisan merchants going there, was in charge, he summoned me to him while I was still a

child, and having an eye to usefulness and future convenience, desired me to stay there and receive

instruction in the school of accounting. There, when I had been introduced to the art of the Indians'

nine symbols through remarkable teaching, knowledge of the art very soon pleased me above all else

and I came to understand it, for whatever was studied by the art in Egypt, Syria, Greece, Sicily and

Provence, in all its various forms.” - Fibonacci