Il Museo civico di storia naturale di Milano è stato fondato nel 1838, ed è uno dei più importanti musei naturalistici d’Europa.
Il Museo aprì al pubblico nel 1844 in occasione del VI Congresso degli Scienziati Italiani che quell’anno svolgeva i suoi lavori a Milano.
Sperm whale skeleton
Since the first regulation in 1843, it was established that the Museum would provide public lessons on natural sciences. This educational function was strengthened in 1863 with the opening of courses for the Higher Technical Institute (later Politecnico di Milano) and in 1875 with the Museum’s participation in the Consortium of Higher Education Institutes, a complex training structure that gave rise in 1924 to the University of Milan.
From 1924 to 1938, the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical and Physical Sciences of the State University was housed in the Museum, which, thanks to an agreement between the State and the Municipality of Milan, could use the laboratories, collections, library, and scientific staff of the Natural History Museum for teaching and research activities.
In 1943, the fire caused by an Anglo-American air bombing devastated the palace and destroyed a large part of the collections. The substantial monetary legacy of the Milanese doctor Vittorio Ronchetti allowed the reconstruction of the Museum, reopened to the public in 1952, and the planning of a program of new acquisitions to restore the museum’s heritage.
Since 1866, the Museum has hosted the Italian Society of Natural Sciences, founded in 1857 as the Geological Society resident in Milan. The scientific association led in 1893 to the joint publication of scientific journals published by the Society and still jointly published with the Natural History Museum. The Lombard Mineralogical Group, the Milanese Botanical Group, and the African Archaeology Study Center are also currently 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
