Reading a Travel Journal. The Melancholia of Gina Lombroso in Latin America

The paper analyzes Gina Lombroso’ observations of the development of criminal anthropology in South America. In her travel journal, published in 1908, she focuses mainly on the Argentinian penitentiary institutions and mental hospitals and deems the establishment of these institutions as tangible signs of the rise of her father's beliefs. In particular, the premises and internal structures for the convicted (se sono stati soggetti a sentenza) and dangerous alienated people are equipped and managed according to the ideas of Italian criminal anthropology’s followers. However, as explained by the author, the huge spread of criminology in Argentina did not ultimately result in a change of substance of the national criminal law and criminal procedure.