Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 18, 2026

Mario Lessona

Mario Lessona was an Italian zoologist and malacologist. He was the son of the prominent natural scientist and senator Michele Lessona and his wife Adele Masi Lessona, who was very much involved in her husband's work, particularly in making translations. A son of Adele Lessona by an earlier marriage was the painter and malacologist Carlo Pollonera, with whom Mario published a monograph on Italian slugs. Mario also coauthored various scientific works with his brother-in-law, the zoologist and senator Lorenzo Camerano.

Last revised
Jul 18, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
386 w
Citations
21
Source
b&w image
Portrait and signature, on p. 151 of Taylor (1904)1 source ↗

Mario Lessona (18 December 1855 in Genoa – 25 December 1911 in Turin) was an Italian zoologist and malacologist.2 He was the son of the prominent natural scientist and senator Michele Lessona and his wife Adele Masi Lessona, who was very much involved in her husband's work, particularly in making translations.3 A son of Adele Lessona by an earlier marriage was the painter and malacologist Carlo Pollonera,4 with whom Mario published a monograph on Italian slugs.5 Mario also coauthored various scientific works with his brother-in-law,3 the zoologist and senator Lorenzo Camerano.

Biography

In the 1880s, Lessona was an assistant professor of zoology at the University of Messina, and then a teacher of natural history at secondary schools in Venice and Carmagnola. In the 1890s he worked as a teacher in the Fornaris-Morocco boarding school in Turin. He published on malacology567 and comparative anatomy, as well as writing several books of natural history and geography for schools. He also edited and translated further scientific works.2

Taxa

Taxa named by Lessona include:

References

References

  1. Taylor, J.W. (1904). Monograph of the land and freshwater Mollusca of the British Isles. Part 10. Leeds: Taylor Brothers. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.13226.
  2. Anonymous. "Mario Lessona". Società per la Cremazione di Torino. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  3. Drösche, A. "Scienza a due voci: le donne nella scienza italian dal settecento al novecento. Masi Lessona Adele". Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna.
  4. Pallary, P. (1924). "C. Pollonera". Journal de Conchyliologie. 68: 170–172.
  5. Lessona, M., Pollonera C. (1882). Monografia dei limacidi italiani. Turin: Ermanno Loescher. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.10743.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. Lessona, M. (1880). "Molluschi viventi del Piemonte". Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (7): 317–380 + plates I–IV.
  7. Lessona, M. (1881). "Sugli Arion del Piemonte". Atti della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino. 16: 185–197 + 1 plate.
External links