Mattoide: per la storia di un lombrosismo fra psico-antropologia e cultura letteraria

Abstract

The essay offers a broad reconstruction of the trajectory of the term mattoide, from its introduction by Cesare Lombroso in his studies of the late 1870s on the relationship between genius and madness, to its widespread use among writers, cultural critics, and journalists between the 19th and early 20th centuries. At the same time, it highlights the term’s rapid disappearance from the language of Italian psychiatry, coinciding with the decline in prestige of Lombroso’s scientific program.