La ginnastica nella scuola per gli anormali psichici: l’esperienza dell’Istituto San Vincenzo di Milano tra Otto e Novecento

[Autom. eng. transl.] The San Vincenzo Institute was founded in Milan at the end of the nineteenth century on the initiative of Don Luigi Casanova, former director of the poor country deaf-mute country poor in the same city. By providing an answer to the educational needs of the abnormal psychics who resided on the Milanese territory, the Institute, financially supported by private charity, had immediate success, since it filled an important gap in the field of assistance to citizenship. The main purpose of the Institute was the integration of the disabled person into society, through intellectual, moral and religious education, as well as through professional training. A prominent place was occupied by physical education, which was translated both in teaching children basic knowledge about hygiene and healthy nutrition, and in offering them adequate gymnastic exercises. Gymnastics was considered a valid educational tool because, attracting the child with his pleasantness, at the same time it promoted his attention, seriously compromised in the deficient, and allowed to become aware of his own body. Given the positive results of this type of education, two sports teams within the Institute were formed, called "The Last" (children from 8 years old) and "I Minimi" (children between 5 and 7 years old), who participated at local and national competitions. Beyond the names of the teams, expression of a cultural prejudice towards abnormal, the competitions allowed the boys to perceive themselves as an active part of that Italian youth gathered to show the noble results obtained following a scrupulous physical care. This contribution, summarizing the results that emerged from a bibliographic and archival research, highlights the investment placed by the San Vincenzo Institute on the physical care of deficient children.