The Science Museum of Trento (MUSE)
Gino Tomasi Archive 1948 – 2014
Gino Tomasi (Trento 1927-2014) was a major figure in the history of research undertaken on lake Tovel. As a graduate in Natural Sciences from the University of Camerino, Tomasi was taken on as an assistant at the Natural History Museum of Trento in 1957. In 1960 he became Assistant Director of the Museum, holding this position until 1964 and becoming Director in 1965 during the period in which the former regional museum was transformed into a state institution within the Autonomous Province of Trento. As a result of this appointment, orders were issued for building renovation and for the transfer of the Museum headquarters to the Sardagna Palace as well as a revision and reassessment of its scientific and managerial functions. After Gino Tomasi’s retirement from the Museum he was nominated director emeritus and then Honorary Curator by the board of directors of the Museum.
The Tomasi archive is particularly interesting for researchers because Tomasi was one of the most important figures to be involved in promoting local research and the idea of nature conservation. Furthermore, his commitment to initiatives for the protection of lake Tovel was unceasing as can be seen in the following two commissions: The “Lake Tovel “Study Commission”, promoted by the Trentino-Alto Adige Region and the “Commission for the Conservation of Nature and its resources” chaired firstly by Alessandro Ghigi (https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Ghigi) and then by Giuseppe Montalenti (https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Montalenti), promoted by the National Research Council.
Throughout his career, Gino Tomasi was a promoter of national parks, and in particular the Adamello Brenta national park. His name is also linked to the scheme for re-introducing the brown bear into the Province, where three attempts at this were made between 1959 and 1973.
Documents allow us to trace the history of scientific research on the phenomenon of the red hue in the waters of Lake Tovel, but references to the lake are also found in literature and local history.
The files relating to Lake Tovel show assorted material such as draft reports, articles, handwritten notes, bibliographical research and photographs. Thanks to the archive, it is possible to reconstruct all the stages of research which led Gino Tomasi to write his monograph entitled “Lake Tovel: from the Imaginary to the Plausible”. This archive is an essential starting point for all those who are interested in the history of the lake.
References
Bruni C., Pandini E., Parisi I. (2016). “Archivio Gino Tomasi, Inventario dell’archivio (1948-2014)”, Museo delle Scienze ‑ MUSE, Provincia autonoma di Trento.
Tomasi G. (1989). “lago di Tovel: dall’immaginario al plausibile” In Natura Alpina, 40, P. 1-72.
Archive of the Natural History Museum of Venezia Tridentina
The leading promoter of the study projects relative to Lake Tovel in the 1920’s and 1930’s was the Natural History Museum of Venezia Tridentina in the South Tyrol region of North Eastern Italy. The activity of the Museum in the field of scientific research during 1937 was largely taken up with hydrobiological studies of this lake. These studies were programmed by the Museum while Prof. Rina Monti Stella of the University of Milan, a distinguished pioneer in Italian limnological studies, was still alive.
After the death of Prof. Monti, the Museum launched an extensive research programme in her memory to further the knowledge of the complex biology of this lake located in the eastern foothills of the Brenta Dolomites. To head the programme, the Museum’s ideal first choice was Prof. Edgardo Baldi, a favourite student of Prof. Monti, long time colleague at the Museum and great expert in the limnology of Venezia Tridentina and many other alpine regions.
The sponsors of this were, respectively, the Trento Museum, in the person of its director Lino Bonomi, who provided the staff and resources, and Prof. Alberto Pepere, the Chancellor of the University of Milan, who contributed financially to the estimated expenditure. During the course of research, and with the aim of establishing the precise mechanism causing the synthesis of the red pigment (astaxanthin) as well as the nature and reasons for the recurrent pattern of the reddening phenomenon, the expedition turned its attention to the biology of Glenodinium, the well known Peridinium foliaceum algae which, according to the scientists of the time, caused the red hue in the waters of the lake, The fundamental purpose of this research was to draw a complete picture of the life of the lake.
During the first year of the study, four site inspections were carried out, one of which lasted sixty days, another was in the middle of winter, and others were, respectively, on 23rd May, 26thand 27th June, from mid-July up until the end of August, and from 27th to 30th December (ref. Logbook of study campaigns).
The first expedition in 1937 was attended by all the staff of the Museum, Prof. Edgardo Baldi, Dr. Giampaolo Moretti of the Milan School of Natural Sciences and students, Dr. Sergio Venzo, Honorary Curator of the Natural History Museum of Trento and geologist at the Civic Museum of Natural History in Milan, the Tridentine Society of Mountaineers, an offshoot of the Italian Mountaineering Club, more commonly known as CAI, which assisted the organizers of the expedition providing them with numerous items of equipment.
Access to the lake was not easy. The mountain posed enormous logistical problems for the base-camp but despite the difficulties, at the beginning of the 1937 expedition a small science village was built on the shore of the lake
For their site inspections, Baldi and the researchers used complex instrumentation including a complete microscopy laboratory equipped with seven different types of instrument, each one of which was designed to perform particular tasks, a microphotographic laboratory to immediately document photographically the characteristics exhibited in the limnetic biocenosis environment, a small laboratory for chemical-physical and chemical research and simple instrumentation for recording the daily weather conditions in the area around the lake. In addition to all this equipment, the researchers had two collapsible rafts, plankton nets, dredgers and a film camera at their disposal along with a number of various types of tent used as living quarters for the researchers and tool shelters. Site inspections continued until November 1940.
The results were published in 1941 in Baldi’s monograph entitled Ricerche idrobiologiche sul Lago di Tovel.
The results were published in 1941 in Baldi’s monograph entitled Ricerche idrobiologiche sul Lago di Tovel. The material stored in the archive is multifarious, comprising drafts of reports, correspondence and photographs. As to the correspondence, the themes are numerous including the studies relating to limnological research, the logistics of expeditions, the colour film dedicated to Lake Tovel (see document ), and the publications edited by Baldi for the Museum magazine called ‘Memorie’.
A somewhat unusual item in the archive (see document ) is the correspondence between Baldi and Lino Bonomi, the then director of the Museum which, in addition to providing details of the resources and the research undertaken at the time, also bears witness to the difficult historical circumstances experienced by the researchers and namely World War II.
Faced with an event as traumatic as war, the constant theme accompanying the researchers is their great dedication to research…
The following are some selected passages from the correspondence:
Trento, 3 February 1945, Lino Bonomi to Edgardo Baldi
“Qui la vita è durissima, ma io tiro avanti con coraggio, misto ad un po’ di fatalismo che non può mancare, se si da uno sguardo intorno a noi, ove le miserie e i danni aumentano giornalmente […] La Valle dell’Adige è tempestata giornalmente; puoi pensare alle mie preoccupazioni per San Michele ove la situazione è pesantissima. Il Museo vive, anzi vegeta, tutte le nostre attività sono paralizzate […] non conviene pensare ai tempi passati e alle passate nostre iniziative: mi sembrano realmente un sogno”
Pallanza, 11 December 1944, Edgardo Baldi to Lino Bonomi
“[…] l’Istituto è rimasto indenne, e così nessuno di noi è incorso in guai seri […] Io non ho più abbandonato Pallanza, anche perché non mi sentivo di lasciare l’Istituto in tali condizioni […] tutto il peso dell’Istituto è sulle nostre spalle e soprattutto il peso finanziario che puoi immaginare quanto sia greve. Con il valido aiuto di Buzzati abbiamo risolto però bene anche questa questione. Industriali e amici ci sono venuti generosamente incontro […] affrontiamo quindi anche il 1945 con sufficiente serenità […] ne è venuto così che questo tremendo periodo, che ha portato tante distruzioni e tanta disorganizzazione anche nel nostro campo, per l’Istituto ha rappresentato invece un periodo di sviluppo e progresso”.
The archive of the Natural Science Museum is a key source for understanding the origins of research on the studies of inland waters in our country, in particular those dedicated to the red hue phenomenon in the waters of Lake Tovel.
References
Barbacovi M. (2006). Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali. Inventario dell’archivio (1858 – 1974), Provincia autonoma di Trento. Soprintendenza per i beni librari e archivistici.
Baldi E. (1939). “Ulteriori ricerche al lago di Tovel” in Studi Trentini di Scienze Naturali, 1-2 (XX), p. 15-30.
Baldi E. (1938). “Relazione preliminare sulle ricerche al lago di Tovel” in Studi Trentini di Scienze Naturali, 3 (XIX), p. 247-339.
Baldi E. (1941). “Ricerche idrobiologiche sul lago di Tovel” estratto Memorie del Museo di Storia Naturale della Venezia Tridentina, 6 (XIX).
“L’attività del Museo di Storia Naturale della Venezia Tridentina ‑ cronaca e comunicazioni. 1937” in Studi Trentini di Scienze Naturali, 3 (XVIII), p. 324-344.
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