During the 1820's, Giovan Battista Mazzoni promoted the mechanisation of the textile factories, along with other innovations that prevented there being a technological gap between Prato, and the manufactures from England and France. Mazzoni was born on the 4th of February 1789, in a palace in via de' Banchi, the road of the ancient exchange and bankers. He studied at the "Seminario Vescovile" in Prato, where he also received a good literary education. In 1808 he attended the University in Pisa, where he already knew two eminent Pratese: the mathematician Giovanni Pieraccioli and the chemist and physicist Francesco Pacchiani. He later gained his degrees in literature and science, and was nominated as one of the top 25 pupils of the "Normale" University in Pisa. In 1815 he moved to Paris, with a small subsidy from Ferdinando III, to learn how to utilise his technical studies of mathematics and physics. He later studied natural sciences at the Sorbona University, in Paris. After obtaining his honours degree, in 1820 he returned to Prato. Mazzoni understood the importance of the textile factories for the economy of his city. He rented part of the ex-convent of Saint Anna in Giolica and created a workshop. He recreated the factories he had seen during his stay in Paris. The production was excellent and the costs were low; so he decided to use the old mill "Gli Abetoni", in Santa Lucia (Prato) to produce hydroelectricity for the weaving machines. Thanks to the first innovation approved by Mazzoni, the textile industry evolved, and the modernisation and future developments of the industry are owed essentially to him. He would constantly try to put his knowledge into practice. In Saint Anna, he built an iron foundry, which was later extended and moved to the "Orfanotrofio Magnolfi" in La Pietà (Prato). In 1847 he made a gas illumination system for Saint Anna's church (it was one of the first in Tuscany). Mazzoni was also involved in the management of public institutions such as the "Cassa di Risparmio" (Bank), the Cicognini College and the "Orfanotrofio tecnologico Magnolfi". On the 22nd of May 1848 he was appointed deputy for the General Council of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. From 1851 to 1853 he was Town Surveyor of the Town Hall of Prato, where he promoted the building of the railway from Prato to Bologna (the line that was later called "Direttissima"). The scholar Niccolò Tommaseo in his "Gita a Prato" (Trip to Prato), published in Naples in 1834, praises Mazzoni for his enthusiasm, his work and his culture.