Evolution as a Solution: Franco Andrea Bonelli, Lamarck, and the Origin of Man in Early-Nineteenth-Century Italy
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Evolution as a Solution: Franco Andrea Bonelli, Lamarck, and the Origin of Man in Early‑Nineteenth‑Century Italy Fabio Forgione1 Accepted: 20 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Franco Andrea Bonelli, a disciple of Lamarck, was one of the few naturalists who taught and disseminated transformism in Italy in the early nineteenth century. The explanation of the history of life on Earth offered by Lamarck’s theory was at odds with the Genesis narrative, while the issue of man’s place in nature raised heated debates. Bonelli sought to reconcile science and religion through his original interpretation of the variability of species, but he also focused on anthropological subjects. Following Blumenbach’s studies, he investigated the differences within the human species and explored the topic of humans’ alleged superiority over animals. The origin of human beings, their history, and their relationship with the rest of life were thus read in light of transformism. According to Bonelli, such questions would not do irreparable damage to the new theory. On the contrary, he considered evolution not only acceptable but even necessary to protect the Holy Texts from certain dangerous trends in anthropological and zoological research. Keywords Evolution · Lamarckian transformism · Jean-Baptiste Lamarck · Franco Andrea Bonelli · Origin of man · Italy · Nineteenth century Due to political fragmentation and the weakness of scientific institutions at the beginning of the nineteenth century, Italian natural history scholars took a great interest in the activities of the leading European research centers. This was also the case in Piedmont, a region that had been ruled for centuries by the Savoy dynasty and was historically linked to France by many geographical and cultural ties. Unlike other Italian territories, Piedmont did not become part of the Kingdom of Italy—a vassal state of the Napoleonic Empire—but was instead directly annexed to France and placed under imperial administration. Thus, Paris became both a political point of reference and a privileged scientific pole of attraction for Piedmontese naturalists. * Fabio Forgione [email protected] 1
Dipartimento di Culture e Civiltà, Università degli Studi di Verona, Viale dell’Università 4, 37129 Verona, VR, Italy
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F. Forgione
Undertaking a challenging journey through the mountains, many scholars moved to the transalpine capital, where they had the opportunity to study museum collections that were far more organized and comprehensive than those available in Italy, as well as to meet leading scientists of the time. This was the path taken by Franco Andrea Bonelli (1784–1830), who distinguished himself as a solid supporter of Lamarck’s theories on the variability of species. In Italy, transformism was widely circulated, though it was not central to scientific debate and was often confined to private reflections (Corsi 1984). Although Bonelli is no exception, as we will see, he nevertheless provides a rare example of the presence of Lamarck
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