# Michele Lessona

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Michele_Lessona
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Michele_Lessona.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Lessona
> Source revision: 1342250096
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{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](/source/Venaria_Reale)
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1894|07|20|1823|09|20|df=y}}
| death_place       = [Turin](/source/Turin), Italy
| fields            = [Natural science](/source/Natural_science)s, [Zoology](/source/Zoology)
| workplaces        = 
| alma_mater        = [University of Turin](/source/University_of_Turin)
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| doctoral_students = 
| known_for         =
| awards            = 
}}

'''Michele Lessona''' (20 September 1823, [Venaria Reale](/source/Venaria_Reale), [Piedmont](/source/Piedmont) – 20 July 1894, [Turin](/source/Turin)) was an Italian [zoologist](/source/zoologist).

Michele Lessona became a specialist in [amphibian](/source/amphibian)s. His accomplishments include translating certain works of [Darwin](/source/Charles_Darwin), for example, ''[The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex](/source/The_Descent_of_Man%2C_and_Selection_in_Relation_to_Sex)''.

==Biography==
Lessona studied medicine in [Turin](/source/Turin), afterwards relocating to [Egypt](/source/Egypt), where he worked in a hospital outside of [Cairo](/source/Cairo) as hospital director at [Karnak](/source/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 science](/source/natural_science)s at Turin, and in the meantime found employment as a secondary school teacher. In 1854 he attained the chair of [mineralogy](/source/mineralogy) and [zoology](/source/zoology) at the [University of Genoa](/source/University_of_Genoa).

In 1862, with [Filippo de Filippi](/source/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](/source/University_of_Bologna) in 1863.<ref name=":0" /> In 1867 he became chair of zoology and [comparative anatomy](/source/comparative_anatomy) at the [University of Turin](/source/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](/source/herpetology) species named after him, such as ''[Pelophylax lessonae](/source/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](/source/Diploglossus_lessonae)'',<ref name="EDR"/> and ''[Trapelus lessonae](/source/Trapelus)''.<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)

{{Authority control}}

{{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

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Michele Lessona](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Lessona) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Lessona?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.