Il Comune e la salute. Amministrazione municipale e igiene pubblica a Milano (1814-1859)

The work deals with supervision and management of urban hygiene and public health by the municipal administration of Milan during the second period of Austrian rule, an historical period characterized by a progressive transition from Ancien Régime to Modern Age. The first part of the work is related to the reconstruction of the administrative organization in the public health sector and to the study, also prosopographical, of the distinctive features of officers, physicians and veterinarians in health and food offices. The second part deals with the reconstruction of municipal interventions for urban hygiene, for food and veterinary vigilance and for prevention and organization of aids during epidemic emergencies. The work points out, from time to time, the backward or innovative trait of such kind of interventions, getting to the conclusion that, even if the municipal administration of Milan seems to gain awareness of health problems existing in the town, it still encounters some difficulties in the actuation of an effective policy of prevention and protection. These difficulties are caused by a chronic lack of funds provided by the government and by a network of private interests which is weakening its authority. Anyway, all the above factors do not prevent the municipal administration from acting in an exemplary and effective manner during the many cholera epidemic emergencies of this period.