The Turin Museum of Natural History (Italian: Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali di Torino or MRSN) was established in 1978 to house the natural history

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

 collections of the University of Turin

University of Turin

The University of Turin is a university in the city of Turin in the Piedmont region of north-western Italy...

 and other collections of naturali history, originated from specific research campaigns and donations. It is located at 36 Via Giolitti, Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

, in a 17th century building which used to be the hospital of San Giovanni Battista

San Giovanni Battista

San Giovanni Battista or dell'Autostrada del Sole is a church in Florence, Italy.The church is formally named after John the Baptist but has also earned the name Church of the Freeway of the Sun for its location between autostrada del Sole and the A11 Firenze-Mare highway.The design of the church...

.

The museum has departments (sezioni) of zoology

Zoology

Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...

, entomology

Entomology

Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...

, botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

, minerals, geology

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

 and paleontology

Paleontology

Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...

. It also has a specialist library and an exhibition centre.

People

Naturalists associated with the collections include:

• Franco Andrea Bonelli
  Franco Andrea Bonelli
  Franco Andrea Bonelli was an Italian ornithologist, entomologist and collector.-Life:Very little is known about the early life of Bonelli: he was born in Cuneo and was interested from an early age in the fauna which surrounded him, making collecting trips, preparing specimens and noting his...
  
  
• Maximilian Spinola
  Maximilian Spinola
  -Background:Spinola was born in Pézenas, Hérault, France. The family of Spinola was of very long standing and had great wealth and power in Genoa. Maximilian Spinola was a descendant of the famous Spanish General Ambrogio Spinola, marqués de los Balbases and much of his wealth derived from land...
  
  
• Luigi Bellardi
  Luigi Bellardi
  Luigi Bellardi was an Italian malacologist and entomologist who specialised in Diptera.Bellardi was born in Genoa and died in Turin...
  
  
• Antonio Garbiglietti
  Antonio Garbiglietti
  Antonio Garbiglietti was an Italian entomologist who specialised in Heteroptera . He wrote . Catalogus methodicus et synonymicus et hemipterorum eteropterorum Italiae indigenarum. Accedit descriptio aliquot specierum vel minus vel nondum cognitarum. Bull. Soc. Entomol...
  
  
• Franco Andreone

External links

• Official Site