The Civic Museum of Natural History of Milan was founded in 1838 and is one of the most important natural history museums in Europe.
The Museum opened to the public in 1844 on the occasion of the VI Congress of Italian Scientists, which was held in Milan that year.
Sperm Whale Skeleton
Since the first regulation in 1843, it was established that the Museum would offer public lectures on natural sciences. This educational role was strengthened in 1863 with the opening of courses for the Higher Technical Institute (later Polytechnic University of Milan) and in 1875 with the Museum’s participation in the Consortium of Higher Education Institutions, a structured educational framework that led to the establishment of the University of Milan in 1924.
From 1924 to 1938, the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences of the State University was based in the Museum. Thanks to an agreement between the State and the Municipality of Milan, it could use the laboratories, collections, library, and scientific staff of the Natural History Museum for teaching and research activities.
In 1943, a fire caused by an Anglo-American aerial bombing devastated the building and destroyed much of the collections. The substantial bequest in money from the Milanese doctor Vittorio Ronchetti allowed the reconstruction of the Museum, which reopened to the public in 1952, along with the planning of a new acquisition program to rebuild the museum’s heritage.
Since 1866, the Museum hosts the Italian Society of Natural Sciences, founded in 1857 as the Geological Society based in Milan. The scientific association led in 1893 to the joint publication of scientific journals published by the Society and still published in collaboration with the Natural History Museum. Currently, the Lombard Mineralogical Group, the Milanese Botanical Group, and the African Archaeology Study Center are also based at the Natural History Museum of Milan.
Information about the Civic Museum of Natural History of Milan
Corso Venezia, 55
20121 Milan (Milan)
0288463280
https://www.comune.milano.it/museostorianaturale
Source: MIBACT
