Museo di Chimica "Primo Levi"

About the museum

The Museo di Chimica della Sapienza was established in 1986 at the initiative of Professor G. Di Maio, within the Department of Chemistry in the Città Universitaria. At first it was little more than a display case with some equipment considered interesting; in 1988 the department assigned it a larger room, where a 19th-century glass-fronted cabinet from the old site in Via Panisperna was installed. In 2010 the museum was named after Primo Levi, chemist, writer and direct witness of the Shoah, as an example of dialogue between scientific and humanistic knowledge.

The collections include scientific instruments, teaching equipment, collections of chemical substances and documents from the late 19th and 20th centuries, some of which belonged to Stanislao Cannizzaro, founder of the Regio Istituto Chimico (Royal Chemical Institute), and to his students. Notable items include precision thermometers reading to a hundredth of a degree (1882–87), cryoscopes, ebulliometers, and apparatus for determining gas density and molecular and atomic weights. A series of forty large wall charts by G. Schroeder, printed in Leipzig in 1884–87 and showing 19th-century industrial chemical plants, also came from Via Panisperna.

The holdings also include printed works such as the Enciclopedia di Chimica Selmi of 1868 and the Enciclopedia Guareschi of 1922. The museum is on the ground floor of the Cannizzaro building of the Department of Chemistry and, alongside guided tours, offers hands-on experiments to introduce visitors to chemistry.

Highlights

• 19th-century precision thermometers, cryoscopes and ebulliometers
• Forty wall charts by Schroeder on industrial chemical plants (Leipzig, 1884–87)
• Instruments and documents linked to Stanislao Cannizzaro and his students
• Historical scientific books, including the Enciclopedia Selmi of 1868
• Hands-on experiments to introduce chemistry

Permanent exhibition

• Collezione di strumenti e documenti storici della chimica – 19th- and 20th-century scientific apparatus, wall teaching charts, chemical substances and historical books linked to the Cannizzaro school.

Founded

1986

Operated by

Sapienza Università di Roma – Polo museale

Director

Donato Monti

Admission & discounts

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

The museum is on the ground floor of the Cannizzaro building (CU014) of the Department of Chemistry, within the Città Universitaria.

Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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