In 1757 the count Angelo Saluzzo di Monesiglio, the physician Gianfrancesco Cigna and the mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange founded a Private Society to support research and experimentation in the various areas of science. in 1783, King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia conferred the title of Reale Accademia delle Scienze on the Private Society. The motto chosen by the members, Veritas et utilitas, expressed the dual commitment of the Academy to supporting progress in science and to using it to the advantage of society.

As defined in its by-laws, its role is to “contribute to scientific progress, supporting research and seeing to the publication of its results, contributing to the spread of knowledge through congresses, conventions, seminars, lectures and all other suitable means, and further by providing opinions and making proposals to public and private institutions in its fields of competence”. The Academy annually publishes two series of papers, the Memorie and the Atti, which contain the collection of results of research presented by the members during the monthly sessions.

Today the Academy comprises about 400 members divided into two Classes, “physical, mathematical and natural sciences” and “moral, historical and philological sciences”.

Since its founding the Academy has been housed in the centre of Torino in the palazzo that today carries its name, originally built in the 1600s as a Jesuit college.

Its library comprises an excellent collection of historic works in the sciences and the humanities and consists in more than 250,000 books and 5,000 periodicals. Its historic archive is one of the most important in Piedmont, and contains more than 70,000 letters, numerous codices, 2,000 manuscript documents regarding the history of science, about a hundred drawings of industrial patents, and another hundred maps.

The Academy also interacts with primary and secondary schools through educational programs. The website www.accademiadellescienze.it offers a virtual collection of all the materials that have been produced for this purpose.

How to reach the Academy