Paolo Gorini's tenure (1834-1857)

Introduction

Paolo Gorini was professor at the Liceo Comunale in Lodi from 1834 to 1857. Interesting sources of information regarding his role there, though rare, can be found among the documents stored at the Archivio di Stato (state archive) in Milan, the historic archive of the city of Lodi and the historic archive of the Liceo Verri, always in Lodi. Some other brief records, in Gorini's autograph papers, are kept at the Biblioteca Laudense. Finally, further proofs, more anecdotal than historic, are related to the many obituaries written for the scientist's death.

Paolo Gorini: insegnante patriottico

One of Italy's famous names during the Risorgimento and the Post-Risorgimento, Gorini's portrait appeared on the "Crepuscolo" of February 20th 1881 really stands out. It was written by Paolo Monferini, ex high-scholl pupil of the scientist, who remembered his didactic skills, his attitude and his patriotic ideals. Furthermore, between 1847 and 1848, a young Tito Speri was among the pupils of Gorini's class. what's more, the events of 1848 fired up the Liceo comunale, and Speri became protagonist; but the professors of the Institute were no less, and most of them joined the secret insurrectional committee.

During the Cinque Giornate di Milano (Five Days of Milan), Gorini showed the committee a farsighted plan to stop the advance of the Austrians. He proposed to create a pathway laden with mines that could activated by remote control. Needless to say, Gorini cited Archimedes' heat-ray as a precedent of his idea. However, there wasn't enough time to put in practice his plan and history continued on its course.

Anticipated retirement

Back in Lodi, Gorini continued teaching until 1857, when he asked and obtained his anticipated retirement for health reasons. This way he would have been able to continue undisturbed his experiments in geology and preservative anatomy, that he had been carrying out in his lab in the deconsecrated (and no longer existent) church of S. Niccolò. In the same year, the institute in which he had patiently taught for 23 years was re-named Imperial Regio, in obedience to the Hapsburgs will. Four years later Italy was free and united under the tricolour flag of the House of Savoy.