Cesare Lombroso

Cesare Lombroso was a 19th-century Italian physician and criminologist who is often considered the father of criminology. He proposed that criminal behavior was linked to biological factors, suggesting that criminals could be identified by certain physical traits, such as facial features or skull shapes. Lombroso's theories emphasized the idea of the "born criminal," arguing that some individuals were predisposed to crime. While his ideas were groundbreaking at the time, they have since been criticized and largely discredited for their deterministic views and lack of scientific rigor. Lombroso's work laid the foundation for later studies in criminal psychology and sociology.