This paper describes the history of the Italian Society of Neurology (Società Italiana di Neurologia, SIN), originally an offshoot of the Società Freniatrica Italiana, whose origins go back to Aversa in 1861, when Biagio Gioacchino Miraglia founded the Società Frenopatica, the first neuropsychiatric organisation for Italian scientists. The "Società Freniatrica" was founded in Rome in 1873 and was to bring together neurologists and psychiatrists until 1907, when the SIN was founded with its own Articles of Association (subsequently modified in 1971) and the two specialisations of neurology and psychiatry were recognised as being distinct entities. The first SIN Congress was held in Naples in 1908, and an analysis of its themes and those of subsequent Congresses highlights the fact that, right from the start, the interests of neurologists covered the whole range of the neurosciences: neuroanatomy, histology, physiopathology and clinical neurology. Over the years, special Groups have been established to enable the more profound study of specialised aspects, and the Society of Hospital Neurologists founded.