Cesare Lombroso and the body in the morgue

Publication Date

5-22-2025

Document Type

Contribution to a Book

Publication Title

Routledge Handbook of Disability Crime and Justice

DOI

10.4324/9781003348733-5

First Page

35

Last Page

48

Abstract

Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) acquired an international reputation for his forensic examination of dead bodies, which he called the new science of criminal anthropology. Lombroso autopsied hundreds of bodies in the search for the evolutionary origins of criminality. This chapter explores his Jewish identity, his pursuit of historical science, and his excursion into spiritism to understand two of the most vexed concepts in his work: the epileptic criminal and the criminal woman. He identified epilepsy as the source of creative genius as well as violent murder; he insisted on womanhood as a disability even though he relied on a circle of women to advance his work. The chapter concludes with a look at the Lombroso legacy and eugenics.

Department

Justice Studies

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