Giulio Briccialdi was an Italian flautist and composer. Briccialdi was born in Terni. His contributions include inventing the B-flat thumb key for the Boehm flute. He died in Florence. Briccialdi, known as “the Paganini of the flute,” was a remarkable virtuoso who toured Europe as a soloist and was responsible for several technical improvements to the flute—now standard features on the instrument. He ultimately settled in Florence and taught at the Florence Conservatory.