Agostino Gemelli’s Years in Turin

This chapter analyzes a scientific journey, of which one fundamental stage took place in Turin. The journey began and ended in Milan, but went through Pavia, France, Belgium, and Germany, before reaching Turin, the center of modern Experimental Psychology in Italy. This journey, which ended with the founding of a Catholic University in Milan, was undertaken by Father Agostino Gemelli (1878–1959), an accomplished and controversial scientist, physician, psychologist, philosopher, educator, friar, and priest. Gemelli started and anticipated a significant proportion of the evolution of psychology in the 20th century. On his path of psychological training, Gemelli met Federico (Friedrich) Kiesow (1858–1940) in Turin in the years leading up to the outbreak of the First World War.