On the occasion of the bicentenary of the materialist scientist and politician Jacob Moleschott, we aim at assessing his role as a (cultural) translator and a transnational figure who mediated both between nation-states and between science and politics.

Born in ’s-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands) in 1822, Jacob Moleschott studied medicine in Heidelberg; he became an assistant of Gerrit Jan (Johannes) Mulder in Utrecht, then went back to Heidelberg and became Privatdozent at that University, which he had to leave because of his materialism in 1854. Two years later, he was teaching Physiology at the University of Zurich. He was appointed Professor of Physiology at the University of Turin in 1861, became an Italian citizen in 1867, a Senator of the newly established Italian Kingdom in 1876, and Professor at “La Sapienza” in Rome in 1878. He died in Rome in 1893, being celebrated as a national hero in several countries at once.

The event will take place on Wednesday, 6 July, from 12:15 until 13:45. It consists of two talks followed by a common discussion.

Registration with laura.meneghello@uni-siegen.de until 5 July.