When, in the spring of 1861, Charles Darwin came to Turin to hold a conference on his much-discussed theory of evolution, the Academy of Sciences' lecture hall filled with a multitude of people, some simply curious, other there to protest his studies. Even King Victor Emmanuel II, upon entering the hall amidst the usual applause, was stunned by the sheer size of the crowd. Reportedly, he turned to the ever-present Camillo Benso di Cavour and, with his characteristic irony, he commented: «Gee, Benso, look how many people came here to be called a monkey!»