O homem delinquente de cesare lombroso biography

Cesare Lombroso was an Italian criminologist and physician considered one of the founders of criminal anthropology. Lombroso was born in Verona, Italy, in 1835 and is regarded as the father of modern criminology. His theories changed the perception of crime and criminals during his time by replacing moral and religious concepts with biological and scientific ones. He received his education in medicine at the universities of Padua, Vienna, and Paris, and later developed a particular interest in psychiatry and criminality. The most significant work he produced was L'Uomo Delinquente, published in 1876, in which he came up with the idea of the 'born criminal.'

Lombroso's theory was based on the assumption that criminality is hereditary and can be detected by specific physical characteristics, which he called atavistic stigmata. He thought criminals were biologically degenerate and closer in their physical attributes to earlier forms of man or even animals. He carried out extensive investigations of prisoners and the mentally ill, taking measurements of their skulls, limbs, and other body parts, in the belief that there would be observable differences between these subjects and law-abiding citizens. Even though his theory of criminal atavism was highly controversial and later rejected, it was the first attempt to approach crime as a scientific object, thus opening the way to modern criminology.

His later works comprised research on female criminals, people with epilepsy, and other categories of criminals. He pointed out that there are biological causes of some behaviors like violence and deviance, but at the same time, he agreed that environment played a role. Lombroso published numerous works, including The Female Offender and Crime: Its Causes and Remedies, and held prestigious academic positions throughout his career. His work raised many controversies in criminology and psychiatry, particularly on the issue of free will and biological factors in criminality. Even though some of his ideas are considered somewhat questionable, for instance, his views on race, gender, and heredity about crime, Lombroso's legacy in criminology remains significant.