Ischia Summer School on the History of the Life Sciences
Visualizing Nature
Stazione Zoologica di Napoli
The Stazione Zoologica di Napoli was founded in 1873 by Anton Dohrn, a young marine biologist and disciple of Charles Darwin. It was one of the first such stations in the world, unusual in that it was financially independent (not connected to a university) and was exclusively devoted to research and advanced training. The famous public aquarium was from the first an integral part of the Stazione, providing an important income for research facilities. The buildings were erected at Anton Dohrn’s personal expense in the beautiful Villa Comunale on the waterfront in Naples.
The international character of the Institute was secured with the support of influential scientists such as Darwin himself (see "Darwin-Dohrn Correspondence", Naples, 1982), Michael Foster, Louis and Alexander Agassiz, Carl Ernst von Baer, Rudolf Virchow, Emil du Bois-Reymond, and, of course, several Italian zoologists, the most prominent being Paolo Panceri, the teacher of outstanding Italian zoologists of the end of the 19th century (Carlo Emery, Antonio Della Valle). In order to guarantee its economic and hence political independence and freedom of research, Dohrn introduced a series of innovative measures to finance his project, first of all the rental of work and research space (‘table system’): for an annual fee the contract partner (universities, governments, scientific institutions, private foundations, even individuals) could send one scientist to Naples for one year where he or she would find available all that was required to conduct research. Investigators were completely free to pursue their own projects and ideas. This ‘research table system’ or ‘Bench system’ worked extremely well. A year round animal supply, one of the advantages of the Naples Station, was guaranteed by an efficient fishing-fleet and well-trained fishermen, who knew the local marine life forms.
Part of Dohrn’s vision included a library built up from donations. Altogether the Naples Station’s biological reference collection became an unrivalled source for bibliographic work and in fact scientists often went to Naples just to have access to such a wonderful library, still unparalleled in Europe even today. The Stazione Zoologica is also the only scientific institution at which, from the very beginning, science, music and art were integral components of a unique project, the complementary halves of a unique dream. From the beginning Dohrn wanted to include the arts as an integral part of the home he was creating for science. The large salon facing the sea in the Stazione was intended for the arts, music in particular. In1873, it was decorated with frescoes by the German painter Hans von Marées and the sculptor and architect Adolf Hildebrand. This cycle of wall-paintings depicts scenes from Mediterranean life: fishermen, Dohrn and his friends relaxing after a hard day’s work and orange groves with children, men and women. The room has recently been restored thanks to funds from the Stazione’s budget and a chamber orchestra has been established, “I Musici dell’Aquarium”, consisting of professional solists of the renowned San Carlo Opera House.
The Department of Ecology of the Stazione is located in the former summer home of the Dohrn family, the ‘Villa Acquario’ on the island of Ischia. It was transformed into a laboratory with the financial support of German foundations. The philosophy underlying this new ‘ecology group’ is that the expertise of specialists from different areas should be applied to broad integrated research programs designed to study the various physical, chemical and biological processes within the Gulf of Naples, and to investigate how these processes interact with one another.
Further information: Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn - Naples, Italy
Credits: Text drawn from a history of the Stazione by Professor Bernardino Fantini, Institut d.Histoire de la Médecine et de la Santé (Geneva)
