Michele Lessona

Born in Venaria Reale near Turin in 1823, Michele Lessona trained in medicine before moving more deeply into natural history. He became a zoologist with a special interest in amphibians and went on to teach and work in Turin, where he also directed the city’s zoological museum.

Lessona is especially remembered for helping introduce Darwin to Italy. He translated major works by Charles Darwin into Italian, including The Descent of Man, and became an important public voice for evolutionary thought at a time when those ideas were still being debated.

He also wrote widely for general readers, combining science, travel, and biography in an accessible style. By the end of his career he had become a prominent cultural figure as well as a scientist, and he was appointed a senator of the Kingdom of Italy in 1892. He died in Turin in 1894.