Cesare Lombroso was an Italian criminologist born in Venice, Italy on November 18, 1836 to parents of Jewish decent. He wrote several books which were published including a book on antisemitism. Blaming Jewish people for their conditions and proposed assimilation as the answer for problem of prejudice. Also in his career he published other books that were highly derogatory works on women. Lombroso studied at several universities including the following but not limited to the University of Padua, Vienna University and the University of Paris. He was mostly known as being a criminologist but it should also be noted that he was also a physician, psychiatrist and corner. From 1864 to 1872 he worked at various mental institutions. In 1862 he was appointed the Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pavia in Italy. He became the director of the mental institution in Pesaro in 1871. Then in 1876 he accepted the chair of Forensic Medicine and Hygiene at the University of Turin, where later he became the professor of Criminal Anthropology. These additional exposures permitted Lombroso to exam people from all aspects of life. This exposure would provide the information that he would base his research on in the latter part of his career. Over the past century he has been the most consistent supporter of the hypothesis which asserted that there was a close link between mental illness and creative achievement. .
Lombroso's works were influenced by the studies of Charles Darwin the famous British scientist who was the founding father of the modern evaluation theory. Darwin took a job as a naturalist aboard a ship called the Beagle. This job allowed Darwin to explore geological formations, fossils and living animals on different islands and continents. On the journey he made several observations on the effects that nature had when shaping the earth. .
During Darwin's time period most scientists believed in the catastrophist theory.