Abstract Summary
In the late nineteenth century, questions regarding hygiene and public health became central to the medical, cultural and political debates in Italy. Particularly during the first few decades after the unification (1861), public health campaigns became a key element in the creation of the new kingdom. One of the key figures who contributed to the establishment of the practice of hygiene in the country was the polymath Paolo Mantegazza. Mantegazza introduced the culture of hygiene in a variety of ways: from laboratory and hospital practice to the creation of sexual medicine. The Italian polymath published widely on sexual medicine for both the professional and general audience with controversial books such as Physiology of Love (1873), The Sexual Relationship of Mankind (1886) and The Art of Taking a Wife (1894). The aim of this paper is to look specifically at his physiological work on sexuality, showing how the control and management of any sexual desires became key to the welfare of the new kingdom. This paper will also look at how the author communicated his controversial ideas about sex and its practices to the general public. This will provide an overview of the circulation of controversial medical knowledge in the post-unification Italian context and the importance this had for national public health.
