The dwarf planet Ceres was discovered by an Italian monk called Giuseppe Piazzi.
Ceres was the first object to be considered an asteroid in the solar system, and does indeed exist within the asteroid belt. In early 1801, an Italian astronomer by the name of Giuseppe Piazzi discovered and named Ceres. He originally classified it as a planet, but it has since been reclassified as a dwarf planet.
Did you know that Ceres is the largest object in the main asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter?