Nobel prize winner whose name lives on in medical science
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| Camillo Golgi expanded knowledge of the human nervous system |
Camillo Golgi, who is recognised as the greatest
neuroscientist and biologist of his time, died on this day in 1926 in Pavia.
He was well known for his research into the central nervous
system and discovering a staining technique for studying tissue, sometime
called Golgi’s method, or Golgi’s staining.
In 1906, Golgi and a Spanish biologist, Santiago Ramon y
Cajal, were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in
recognition of their work on the structure of the nervous system.
Golgi was born in 1843 in Corteno, a village in the province
of Brescia in Lombardy.
The village was later renamed Corteno Golgi in his honour.
In 1860 Golgi went to the University of Pavia to study
medicine. After graduating in 1865 he worked in a hospital for the Italian
army and as part of a team investigating a cholera epidemic in the area around
Pavia.
He resumed his academic studies under the supervision of
Cesare Lombroso, an expert in medical psychology, and wrote a thesis about
mental disorders. As he became more and more interested in experimental
medicine he started attending the Institute of General Pathology headed by
Giulio Bizzozero, who was to influence Golgi’s research publications. They
became close friends and Golgi later married his niece, Lina Aletti.
Financial pressure led Golgi to work at the Hospital for the
Chronically Ill in Abbiategrasso near Milan and while he was there he set up a
simple laboratory in a former hospital kitchen.
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| A statue within the campus of Pavia University commemorates Golgi's life and work |
It was in his improvised laboratory that he made his most
notable discoveries. His major achievement was the development of staining
technique for studying nerve tissue called the black reaction, using potassium
bichromate and silver nitrate, which was more accurate than other methods and was later to become known as Golgi’s
method.
In 1885 he joined the faculty of histology at the University
of Pavia and then later became Professor of Histology. He also became Professor
of Pathology at the San Matteo hospital. His connection with the university is commemorated with a statue within the grounds, while a plaque marks the house in nearby Corso Strada Nuova where he lived.
He was rector of the University of Pavia for two separate
periods and during the First World War he directed the military hospital,
Collegio Borromeo, in Pavia.
Golgi retired in 1818 and continued his research in a
private laboratory. He died on 21 January1926.
In 1900 he had been named as a Senator by King Umberto I. He
received honorary doctorates from many universities and was commemorated on a
stamp by the European community in 1994.
The Golgi apparatus, the Golgi tendon organ, the Golgi
tendon reflex and certain nerve cells are all named after him.
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| The Golgi museum in Via Brescia, Corteno Golgi |
Travel tip:
Corteno Golgi, a village of around 2,000 people is situated in the High Camonica Valley, about 100km (62 miles) north of Brescia in the Orobie Alps in Lombardy. It has a museum dedicated to Camillo Golgi in Via
Brescia. For more information visit www.museogolgi.it.
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| The covered bridge over the Ticino river at Pavia |
Travel tip:
Pavia, where Golgi lived for a large part of his life, is a
city in Lombardy, about 46km (30 miles) south of Milan, known for its ancient university, which was
founded in 1361, and its famous Certosa, a magnificent monastery complex north
of the city that dates back to 1396. A pretty covered bridge over the River Ticino leads to Borgo
Ticino, where the inhabitants claim to be the true people of Pavia and are of
Sabaudian origin.
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