Records concerning Michele Lessona in University of Turin Historical Archives

The University of Turin Archives hold many official records concerning Michele Lessona, because he obtained his Medicine degree from University of Turin (1840-1846) and later became professor of Zoology at the same University, holding the greatest offices. This paper emphasizes some important documents that give information about the teacher’s role and his relation to the students and about Lessona’s efforts to improve material conditions and performances of the newly established scientific laboratories. The paper also discusses his opinion about women’s access to university education and highlight some unpublished documents about the collections’ development at the University Museum of Zoology (from 1867 to 1893). Thanks to these documents it is possible to say the name of many donors and, above all, to date the collections themselves.