Lombroso: The Myth,The History

Abstract

This article outlines, for the first time, the main junctures in the historical memory of Cesare Lombroso and of the scholarly interpretation of his legacy, from his death in 1909 to the present. As someone whose life placed him at the centre of significant controversies, and as the symbolic figure of Italian positivism, Lombroso’s legacy has repeatedly been the object of conflict and been used to support various causes, through a period marked by profound and dramatic change. Historiographical reflection on his position within the human sciences, however, particularly in Italy and the United States, is of much more recent advent, and is still ongoing.