Patrizia Guarnieri

The history of psychiatry in Italy

At first it was only the alienists who began to sketch out their past. A few of them published their memoirs; some commemorated their masters, even sons and grandsons wrote of fathers whose profession they pursued; and, when there were no male heirs, there were daughters who, if they could not inherit the careers of their fathers, could at least glorify their lives and work, as did Gina and Paola Lombroso.2 The result was a view of the recent past that was

PER UNA STORIA DELLE SCIENZE DELL'INFANZIA: LE FONTI DELL'ISTITUTO DEGLI INNOCENTI DI FIRENZE*

title SUMMARY /title This text is the description of an investigation. At the same time it is an interpretative essay and detailed description of still unexplored archival material, currently being catalogued. It also describes photographs, scientific instruments and books, all belonging to one of the oldest and most important institutions for childhood. The focus is on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a decisive and yet too little studied period at the origins of pediatrics. During this period the Istituto degli Innocenti experienced an extraordinary transformation from being a place of charity to being a centre for maternity and infant care in the modern sense, where pioneering activities took place relating to scientific research, sanitary care, medical experimentation and training, as well as to specialised nursing, prevention and divulgation.