Paolo Magretti. Naturalist, explorer

Abstract

My interest and biographical research on Paolo Magretti began in 2004 with my friend Carlo Violani, at the time Professor of History of Biology and Natural History Museums at the University of Pavia, as well as President of the Italian Society of Natural Sciences, who confessed to me that he was a distant relative of his. It was not easy at first to retrieve news about this non-academic scientist: the internet did not offer much information and we could only count on a few of Magretti's forty publications, the obituaries dedicated to him and the documents preserved at the Natural History Museum in Genoa. We immediately noticed that that year marked the 150th anniversary of Magretti's birth, and we quickly sought to involve friends, scholars, environmental, cultural and scientific organisations (including the Italian Natural Science Society) and public bodies in the organisation of a series of celebratory events coordinated by a special committee. The launch of these events in the municipality of Paderno Dugnano triggered a great deal of interest among the associations active in the area and citizens who, in turn, helped to deepen their knowledge of the naturalist, including by providing rare original documents on the Magretti family. Research carried out in the natural history museums of Genoa, Milan and Pavia led to the drafting of an initial publication on behalf of the Padernese municipality and the creation of an exhibition. This was the beginning of a long journey that brought ever-increasing news about the life and works of this member of ours at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
A few years after the first celebrations, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Magretti's death (2013), the Padernese promotion committee was reactivated to realise a second series of events that, again, rekindled interest in our character, especially on the part of local schools. Today, almost twenty years after the start of the biographical investigation, I am given the opportunity to present to the members of the Italian Society of Natural Sciences the current results of the ongoing research, a journey that has been enriched by many valuable collaborations, but which I cannot yet declare concluded; on the contrary, I think it will continue for some time to reserve us many pleasant surprises.