La Scuola e il Museo di Veterinaria a Modena

The Veterinary School and Museum of Modena. The Veterinary School of Modena (Italy) was one of the first to be opened in Italy. Duke Francesco III – who enterprised the reformation of Modena University in 1772 – wished to established also a Veterinary School, which was eventually founded by his son Ercole III. For this purpose, he sent two of his physicians (Vincenzo Veratti and Luigi Maria Mislej) to study veterinary medicine in Ferrara for two years. Afterwards, the two doctors were sent for another two years to Lyon to get a specialization. Lessons began in Modena in 1791 and a small Veterinary Museum was also set up. During the French occupation, the School became autonomous from the University but in 1807 was closed. Under the rule of Francesco IV, from 1814 to 1826, there were four private schools of veterinary, which in 1827 merged in a single school attached to Modena University. Thanks to professors Antonio Riccardi, Lodovico Gibellini and, later on, Antonio Ghiselli, a Veterinary Museum was set up with a collection that in 1862 reached 1547 pieces. After the unity of Italy, the Veterinary School of Modena lost progressively importance, until in 1923 it was definitely abolished. In 1925, the Experimental Institute of Zootechnics was founded in its place. In 1964, the Museum bequeathed most of its specimens to Parma University. Eventually, in 1998, the Experimental Institute was moved to the nearby village of San Cesario with the few specimens left in the Museum