Villella’s skull can stay in the Museum

The Court of Appeal of Catanzaro published a judgement in favour of the University of Turin

With great relief we inform you that on May

16th the Court of Appeal of Catanzaro published a judgement in favour of the University of Turin (judgement N. 892). In 2012, the Court of First Instance of Lamezia had ordered that the skull of Giuseppe Villella, had to be returned to Motta Santa Lucia, and The University of Turin appealed.

In particular, the new judgement says that the exposition of the skull in the Museum is fully legitimate, since it highlights the historic scientific interest of theories, such as those of Lombroso, which attracted international attention in the scientific community. This interest had been absolutely disregarded by the first instance judge, who upholded the claims of the Comune di Motta Santa Lucia and of the NoLombroso Committee.