Cesare Lombroso

Cesare Lombroso (Verona, November 6, 1835 - Turin, October 19, 1909) was a historical figure in modern criminology, and the founder of the Italian Positivist School of criminology. Lombroso rejected the established Classical School of criminology, which held that crime was a characteristic trait of human nature. Instead, using concepts drawn from Social Darwinism, Lombroso's theory was that criminality was inherited, and that the born criminal could be identified by physical defects, which confirmed a criminal as savage, or atavistic.

Reference

• Gould, Stephen J. (rev. ed. 1996) The Mismeasure of Man. W. W. Norton, ISBN 0393314251
• Lombroso, Cesare (1876) L'Uomo Delinquente. Milan: Horpli.
• ____ (1895) L'Homme Criminel. Felix: Alcan. (two volumes).
• ____ With Gina Lombroso-Ferrero (1911) Criminal Man, According to the Classification of Cesare Lombroso. New York: Putnam; (1972) Montclair, N.J.: Patterson Smith.
• _____ (1980) The Female Offender. Littleton, Colorado: Fred Rothman, (1980).