{{Short description|Italian zoologist (1823–1894)}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Michele Lessona | image = Lessona.jpg | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1823|09|20|df=y}} | birth_place = Venaria Reale | death_date = {{Death date and age|1894|07|20|1823|09|20|df=y}} | death_place = Turin, Italy | fields = Natural sciences, Zoology | workplaces = | alma_mater = University of Turin | doctoral_advisor = | doctoral_students = | known_for = | awards = }}
'''Michele Lessona''' (20 September 1823, Venaria Reale, Piedmont – 20 July 1894, Turin) was an Italian zoologist.
Michele Lessona became a specialist in amphibians. His accomplishments include translating certain works of Darwin, for example, ''The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex''.
==Biography== Lessona studied medicine in Turin, afterwards relocating to Egypt, where he worked in a hospital outside of Cairo as hospital director at Karnak.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZY3BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT178 |title=The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians|last=Beolens|first=Bo|last2=Watkins|first2=Michael|last3=Grayson|first3=Michael|date=2013-04-22|publisher=Pelagic Publishing|isbn=978-1-907807-42-8|language=en}}</ref> From 1850 he studied natural sciences at Turin, and in the meantime found employment as a secondary school teacher. In 1854 he attained the chair of mineralogy and zoology at the University of Genoa.
In 1862, with Filippo de Filippi, he took part in a scientific and diplomatic mission to Persia, and after his return to Italy, he was named chair of zoology at the University of Bologna in 1863.<ref name=":0" /> In 1867 he became chair of zoology and comparative anatomy at the University of Turin.<ref>[http://www.unito.it/unitoWAR/page/biblioteche1/B035/B035_Michele_Lessona1 Library of the Department of Animal and Human Biology – Università degli Studi di Torino] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130218210749/http://www.unito.it/unitoWAR/page/biblioteche1/B035/B035_Michele_Lessona1 |date=2013-02-18 }} (biographical information)</ref> He was the first to translate Darwin's ''The Descent of Man'' into Italian, in 1871.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VW97AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA513 |title=The Literary and Cultural Reception of Charles Darwin in Europe|last=Glick|first=Thomas F.|last2=Shaffer|first2=Elinor|date=2014-05-22|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-78093-712-0|language=en}}</ref> He was also a Senator of the Kingdom from 1877 to 1894.<ref name=":0" />
==Eponyms== Lessona has several herpetological species named after him, such as ''Pelophylax lessonae'',<ref>Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2013). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians''. Exeter, England: Pelagic Publishing Ltd. xiii + 262 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-907807-41-1}}. ("Lessona", p. 124).</ref> ''Diploglossus lessonae'',<ref name="EDR"/> and ''Trapelus lessonae''.<ref name="EDR">Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. ("Lessona", p. 156).</ref>
==Works== Partial list * ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Volere è potere|it}}'', 1869. Florence. * ''Carlo Darwin''. 1883. Reissued by Kessinger, 2009, {{ISBN|978-1-104-06962-9}}. * ''Venti anni fa'' 1884. Reissued by Kessinger, 2009, {{ISBN|978-1-104-52050-2}}. * ''Le cacce in Persia''. 1884. Rome. Reissued by Kessinger, 2010, {{ISBN|9781167477102}}.
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== * {{Gutenberg author | id=43204| name=Michele Lessona}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Michele Lessona}} * [https://books.google.com/books?id=3ovZoFyLhzkC&pg=PA156 Google Books] The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles by Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins, Michael Grayson. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20071011091122/http://www.torinoscienza.it/accademia/personaggi/apri?obj_id=466 torinoscienza] In Italian * [http://orlabs.oclc.org/identities/lccn-n93-108283 WorldCat Identities] (list of published works)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lessona, Michele}} Category:1823 births Category:1894 deaths Category:People from Venaria Reale Category:Italian zoologists Category:Academic staff of the University of Bologna Category:Academic staff of the University of Turin Category:Academic staff of the University of Genoa Category:Italian herpetologists