XLV National Congress of the Italian Society for the History of Physics and Astronomy

The Astronomical and Copernican Museum: From the Original Collection to Later Developments

10 Sept 2025, 12:30

25m

Aula Magna (DIFI-Università di Genova)

Musei, Archivi e Strumentazione scientifica di fisica e astronomia in Italia e nel mondo / Museums, Archives, and Scientific Instruments of Physics and Astronomy in Italy and Abroad

Speaker

Verduci, Domenica (Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche 'Enrico Fermi' e Università di Bologna 'Alma Mater Studiorum')

Description

The idea of founding a permanent museum dedicated to the illustrious Polish astronomer dates back to 1873, the year of the fourth centenary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), and was the result of an initiative proposed by former Minister of Public Education Domenico Berti and Filippo Serafini, rector of the University La Sapienza. Since then, a series of intricate events followed one after the other, leading to the inauguration of the Museum in its definitive location – Villa Mellini in Monte Mario – only on 28 October 1938.
Through a number of documents consulted in the historical archives of the Astronomical Observatory of Rome, the Accademia dei Lincei and the Department of Astronomy of the University Bologna, this contribution aims to reconstruct step by step the exciting history of the Astronomical and Copernican Museum between continuous relocations of sites, renovation and/or expansion works, and even the attempt to move the Museum to the city of Bologna.