Andrea Verga

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Andrea Verga (1811–1895) was an Italian doctor who studied the brain and mind. He is remembered as a pioneer in the study of the criminally insane and for his early work on acrophobia, a fear of heights that he himself experienced.

He was born in Treviglio, Bergamo, to a modest family. He initially attended religious studies before choosing medicine, entering the University of Pavia in 1830. There he worked with the anatomist Bartolomeo Panizza and developed a strong interest in the nervous system. He also spent time abroad to deepen his knowledge.

In Milan, Verga worked at the Villa Antonini asylum and later at the Ospedale Maggiore. He pushed for reforms of asylums, turning them into places for treatment, research, and teaching. He helped start Italy’s first psychiatric publication in 1852 and later, in 1864, its expanded form, the Italian Archive for nervous diseases. He became director of the Ospedale Maggiore and promoted psychiatric education for doctors and the public. He also helped found the Italian Freniary Society and served as its president for many years.

Verga played a significant role in public life as well. He supported asylum reform and, in Parliament, voted in 1888 for the abolition of the death penalty. In 1886 he was injured at an asylum visit, losing sight in one eye.

In his later years he studied aging and created a Relief Fund for poor alienists and their families. Verga died in Milan in 1895. His letters and papers, kept in Milan, show a rich mix of medical work and literary interests, and they document his influence on the birth of Italian psychiatry.