Events in the world of Russian ethnography at the turn of the twentieth century as reflected in the Italian journal Archive for Anthropology and Ethnography

After the unification of Italy in 1861 significant social, economic and cultural changes occurred in the Apennine Peninsula. The gradual loss of the old lifestyles enhanced the progressive elites’ interest in the historical past and provided an impetus for the development of more complex studies of the people and their traditions. In Italy, ethnographic studies were considered a part of anthropology, which focused mainly on the studies of physical characteristics of humans. Italian anthropological studies started to develop slightly later than those in other European countries, but by the mid-1870s Florence became a renowned research center. This is where the first National Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology (1869), the first university department of anthropology (1871) and the Italian society of Anthropology and Ethnology (1871) were created. In the late nineteenth century the society became one of the biggest in Europe and played a significant role in the development of contacts between Russian and Italian ethnic anthropologists. The written evidence of the interest of foreign scholars in the culture and traditions of the people of Russia can be found in the Archive for Anthropology and Ethnography, the society’s journal. The article looks into the first 50 volumes of this periodical (1871–1920), which provide information on the history and some interesting aspects of the organization of ethnographic expeditions to Russia undertaken by Italian scholars. The sources discussed in the article allow for the conclusion that Italian scholars would also keep track of the studies of Russian ethnographers and anthropologists.