Rita Levi-Montalcini
Rita Levi Montalcini, ( born April 22, 1909 in Turin, Italy, † December 30, 2012 in Rome) was an Italian neurologist and neurobiologist. She was honored in 1986 together with Stanley Cohen with the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research and the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology. She was appointed in 2001 as the second wife of senator for life in Italy.
Life
Rita Levi Montalcini, and her twin sister Paola Levi- Montalcini (1909-2000), a well-known artist, came from a Sephardic family. Her parents were of Jewish engineer and mathematician Adamo Levi and his wife Adele Montalcini. The family also her brother Gino (1902-1974) and his sister Nina included (* 1904). When her nanny Giovanna terminally ill with cancer, decided the 19 -year-old Rita Levi to study medicine. In 1936 she finished her medical studies. Since Mussolini Jewish women refused access to academic positions, she moved to Belgium. Shortly before the German invasion, she returned to Italy, where she conducted research on, among other things in her bedroom. Between 1943 and 1945 she lived illegally in Florence.
After the war they fought in refugee camps against plagues and epidemics. From 1969 to 1979 she led, inter alia, in Rome the Laboratory of Cell Biology of the National Research Council. Her research focused on cellular communication and control mechanisms of cell and tissue growth. She discovered the Epidermal Growth Factor ( EGF), nerve growth factor ( NGF), a polypeptide, and coined together with Viktor Hamburger the term " neurotrophin ". For the isolation and characterization of nerve growth factor, she was awarded the Nobel Prize. She was a member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome. The Levi- Montalcini was an atheist in 1974 by Pope Paul VI. ever appointed as the first woman in the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
In August 2001, she was appointed by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi senator for life. In 2006, she should lead the inaugural session of Parliament as the elder member. However, she waived in favor of Oscar Luigi Scalfaro on this honor. In 2008, she renounced it again.
Since the death of Józef Rotblats Levi- Montalcini in 2005 was the oldest living Nobel Prize recipient. Since 4 May 2008, she was also the oldest Nobel Laureate in general; Tadeusz Reichstein previously held this position. She was the first person who received a Nobel Prize and was at least 100 years old.
Other awards (selection)
Quote
" The body does what he wants. I am not the body, I am the memory. "
Works
- I am a tree with many branches. The Opportunity Age ( Original title: L' asso nella manica a Brandelli, translated by Christel Till Galliani ). Piper, Munich / Zurich 1999, ISBN 3-492-04121-3, paperback last under the title: The Benefits of age. Performance and mental activity for a lifetime, Piper -TB 4388, Munich / Zurich 2005, ISBN 978-3-492-24388-9.