Una umanità più squisita e migliore”. Gli eugenisti italiani e il First International Eugenics Congress (Londra, 1912) / A better and more perfect humanity”. The italian eugenicists and the first international eugenics congress (london, 1912)

L’articolo indaga la partecipazione degli studiosi italiani al First International Eugenics Congress, tenutosi a Londra, sotto la presidenza di Leonard Darwin (24-30 luglio 1912). L’analisi delle relazioni presentate dagli eugenisti italiani rivela le caratteristiche principali del movimento eugenico nazionale: un’impostazione interdisciplinare, che coinvolge antropologia, psichiatria, sociologia, demografia, economia e politica; il ruolo preminente riconosciuto alle condizioni sociali e ambientali; l’enfasi posta sulle riforme educative e igieniche. Allo stesso tempo, tuttavia, l’articolo mostra come alcuni importanti eugenisti italiani fossero in linea di principio favorevoli all’adozione di misure repressive, tra cui la sterilizzazione degli inadatti; la rifiutavano unicamente per ragioni pratiche, dal momento che era difficile sterilizzare interi gruppi umani e vincere la resistenza della popolazione e della Chiesa cattolica. Questo aspetto consente di sottolineare i limiti del concetto di eugenica latina applicato al caso italiano. Inoltre, l’articolo sostiene che il congresso ha costituito una svolta nella storia dell’eugenica italiana, fornendo una cornice istituzionale al movimento, incoraggiando la discussione di questioni relative al miglioramento umano nel dibattito scientifico e politico e segnando il passaggio da un’eugenica qualitativa a un’eugenica quantitativa.(AU)

The article investigates the participation of the Italian scholars in the First International Eugenics Congress held in London, under the presidency of Leonard Darwin (24-30 July 1912). The analysis of the papers presented by the Italian eugenicists reveals the main features of the national eugenics movement: an interdisciplinary approach, involving anthropology, psychiatry, sociology, demography, economics, and politics; the prominent role recognized to social and environmental conditions; the emphasis on educational and hygiene reforms. At the same time, however, the article shows how some relevant Italian eugenicists were in principle in favor of the adoption of repressive measures, such as the sterilization of the unfit. They rejected it only for practical reasons: it was difficult to sterilize entire human groups and overcome the resistance of the population and the Catholic Church. This aspect allows us to underline the limits of the concept of Latin eugenics applied to the Italian case. Furthermore, the article argues that the Congress represented a turning point in the history of Italian eugenics, providing an institutional framework to the movement, encouraging the discussion of issues related to human betterment in scientific and political debate, and marking the transition from a qualitative eugenics to a quantitative eugenics.(AU)

Giuseppe Sergi. The portrait of a positivist scientist.

Giuseppe Sergi (1841-1936) was one of the most important anthropologists and psychologists of the age of positivism and this article focuses on three domains of his scientific research: degeneration, eugenics and race. His concept of degeneration is defined as the development of special forms of human adaptation to the environment. This issue is closely related to his theory of the "stratification of character", which had a profound impact on Italian psychiatry and criminal anthropology in the late nineteenth century. Thus, special emphasis is placed on the differences between Sergi and Cesare Lombroso regarding their definitions of criminality and genius. Concerning eugenics, the article analyzes Sergi's key role in the Italian context, discussing his eugenic program based on both repression and education. His remedies against the spread of degeneration included not only radical and repressive measures, but also the improvement of popular education and the living conditions of the working class. In the field of physical anthropology, the article examines Sergi's morphological method of classifying ethnic groups. Although sharply criticized in Italy and abroad, this method had two major effects. First, it led to the definitive split between Sergi and Paolo Mantegazza and to the foundation of the Societá Romana di Antropologia in 1893. Second, it was the starting point for Sergi's theory of Mediterranean "stock", which claimed that European populations were of African origin in contrast to contemporary theories of Aryan supremacy. The article ends with a look at the heated debate over Sergi's Mediterraneanism during the period of Fascism.