LA STAZIONE ZOOLOGICA DI NAPOLI – UN CONGRESSO PERMANENTE PER I BIOLOGI MARINI TALIANI

Abstract

The German zoologist Anton Dohrn (1840-1909), a pupil of Ernst Haeckel, decided in 1868 in Messina to cover the globe with a network of zoological stations, taking inspiration from the railway network, to allow researchers interested in the study of marine fauna to stop in a certain place, study the organism of interest, and then continue to other shores. He founded the first station in Messina, but then moved to Naples where in 1872 he built the Zoological Station which today bears his name. Along the way Dohrn demonstrated notable managerial skills, making SZN a cutting-edge research institute, both in terms of the supply of raw materials, research tools and methods and administrative management, thanks to innovative financing methods. So much so that after a few years the Naples Station was considered a permanent zoological congress. The Italian scientific community also contributed to this and took advantage of this.