Paolo Mazzarello#
Laudatio by Marina Bentivoglio#
Paolo Mazzarello scientific activity has mainly developed in the fields of history of medicine (and in particular the history of neuroscience)
1) His main scientific achievement has been the reconstruction of an epic period of the history of Italian medicine and biology linked to the name of Camillo Golgi system (Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine in 1906), who gave outstanding contributions to the study of the nervous system, infectious diseases (and malaria in particular), and cell biology (discovering in 1898 the organelle which bears his name). The life and discoveries of this prominent scientist have been the topics of many publications of the candidate, the most important of which are the books: "Il Nobel dimenticato. La vita e la scienza di Camillo Golgi (Bollati Boringhieri, first edition 2006; second revised edition 2007) updated and translated in English with the title: "Golgi. The Biography of the Founder of Modern Neuroscience" (Oxford University Press, 2010). Through these books, the detailed biographical aspects and the general political and social Italian context of Golgi’s life emerge in relationships with the international panorama of science at the passage from the Nineteenth to the Twentieth century. A substantial part of Mazzarello’s studies has been devoted to the reconstruction of the Golgi’s school of biomedical investigation which included many ofthe most important Italian biologists at the turn ofthe Nineteenth century. On Golgi’s discoveries and Golgi’s school Mazzarello has also published numerous papers in Italian and international journals (Febs Lett. 583, 3732-3737, 2009; Med Secoli 19, 19-28, 2007; Brain Res. Bull. 71, 344-346, 2007; J Hist Neurosci. 15, 318-325, 2006; Funct. Neurol. 21, 63-65, 2006; Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 4, :69-74, 2003; J Hist. Neurosci. 8, 121-131, 1999; Ital. J Neurol. Sci. 4, 241-247, 1998; Med Secoli 10, 495-510, 1998; Pathologica 90, 425-436, 1998; Nature 392, 543-544, 1998; Endeavour, 22, 101-105, 1998; J Hist. Neurosci. 5, 162-168, 1996).
Through the reconstruction of Golgi’s life and science, Mazzarello’s investigations have greatly contributed not only to the history of an important chapter of Italian medicine and biology, but also to the advancement of the general history of modern neuroscience, microbiology and cytology. The importance of these studies are confirmed by about 200 quotations, mainly in international journals (sources Google scholar, ISI - web of science). Furthermore, Mazzarello’s studies have been quoted in a philosophical context (see for example L. Daston and P. Galison, Objectivity, Zone Book, New York, 2007; Churchland P.S. Funct. Neurol. 22: 185-195, 2007; Kandel E. In search of memory. The emergence of a new science of mind. W.W. Norton, New York 2006; R. Gregory The Oxford companion to the mind. Oxford University Press, 2004).
Paolo Mazzarello’s studies on Camillo Golgi have been repeatedly reviewed in scientific journals, such as, among others, by E. Perucca (Epilepsia, 38, 256-257, 1997); L. W. Swanson (Trends in Neurosciences 23, 230-231, 2000); G. Pareti (Intersezioni 20, 457-466 2000); J. Maienschein (The Journal of the History of Biology 33, 602-604, 2000); F. Schiller (Bulletin of the History of Medicine 75, 156-157, 2001), J. van Gijn (The New England Journal of Medicine 344, 1102, 2001 ); F. R. Freemon (The Journal of the American Medical Association 285, 2017, 2001), L. Bossi (Journal of the History of the Neurosciences 10, 326-328, 2001), E. Raviola, Nature, 16 November 2006; M. Capocci, Le Scienze, April 2007. Reviews have also appeared in newspapers and magazines: M. Smargiassi, La Repubblica, 3 September 2006, P. Bianucci, La Stampa, 9 September 2006; G. Di Chiara, Il Sole 24 Ore, 8 October 2006; A. Armano, Il Giornale, 9 December 2006; F. Voltaggio, Il Manifesto, 14 December 2006; E. Tognotti, Panorama, 28 December 2006, G. Corbellini (Il Sole 24 ore, 4 June 2000).
2) Paolo Mazzarello’s second important field of research is related to the scientific figure of the Italian scientist Lazzaro Spallanzani, one ofthe founder of modern physiology, to his presence as a prototypical figure in nineteenth century literature, and to the controversies between taxonomists and physiologists in the second half of the eighteenth century, through the reconstruction of a significant event in his life, namely, his exploration travel to Costantinople in 1785-86.
To Lazzaro Spallanzani Paolo Mazzarello has dedicated a brief paper (Nature, 411: 639) in which he suggested that this scientist was one of the prototype of the subsequent diabolical scientist in literature, in particular he was the model used by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann in his 1815 story Der Sandmann about a scientist (Dr. Spalanzani) who builds a beautiful female doll which drive a young man insane. This article had an impact in the general press (see for example The Guardian, ll June 2001; La Repubblica, 12 June 2001; La Stampa, 27 June 2001).
On Spallanzani Paolo Mazzarello has published the book "Costantinopoli 1786, la congiura e la bejfa. L’intrigo Spallanzani" (Bollati Boringhieri, Turin, 2004) which was reviewed in some important scientific journals and in newspapers (N. Nosengo, Nature, 10 March 2005; M. Dotti, Il Manifesto, 8 January 2005; E. Tognotti, La Stampa, 12 January 2005; S. Luzzatto, Corriere della Sera, 5 February 2005; G. Corbellini, Il Sole 24 Ore, 20 February 2005; A. Ferracuti, Diario, 25 February 2005; G. F. Bignami, Le Scienze, March 2005; G. Corbellini, Darwin, March-April 2005, D. Ribatti, La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, 10 April 2005; F. Giudice, La Rivista dei Libri-Italian Edition of the New York Review of Books-), October 2005; V. Gazzaniga, Medicina nei Secoli, vol.l7 (3) pp. 849-855, 2005; M. Bresadola, Rivista Storica Italiana Anno CXVII (Faso. HD, 2005, pp. 1143-1146; G. Pareti, Intersezioni, Rivista di Storia delle idee, 1 aprile 2006.
3) Paolo Mazzarello’s third field of research is related to the relationship of the history of Nineteenth century Anthropology and Criminology with the history of literature. Mazzarello’s interest focused on the figure of the prominent Italian psychiatrist Cesare Lombroso, the founder of modern Criminal Anthropology. Mazzarello has traced the travel of Lombroso from Italy to Jasnaja Polyana, in Russia, where the famous Russian writer Leo Tolstoy lived. Lombroso met Tolstoy with the intention to verify his theory of the degeneration of genius by a de visu observation of the phenotypic aspects of Tolstoy, According to Lornbroso’s theory, the somatic aspects of a person exactly parallel his/her psychological attitude, including the mental pathology. The genius was equated to a mental abnormality, expression of a sort of regression in the evolution process. Thus the visit to Tolstoy was, according to Lombroso, a scientific experience, that is the occasion to observe in his "natural environment" one of the literature genius of that epoch with his somatic signs of degeneration. The important consequence of this event was the strong rejection of Lombroso’s theory on Resurrection, last great novel by Tolstoy.
On this story Mazzarello’s has published the book Il genio e l'alienista. La strana visita di Lombroso a Tolstoj (Bollati Boringhieri, Turin), a paper on Nature (vol. 409, p.983, 2001) and Functional Neurology (vol. 26, pp. 97-101, 2011). The book has been quoted in a historical-philosophical context (see for example: Bodei R. Personalità multiple, Feltrinelli, Milan, 2003, Gibson M. Rafter NH, Eds, Criminal man, C. Lombroso, Duke University Press 2006, and Criminal Woman, the prostitute, and the normal woman, C. Lombroso, Duke University Press 2004).
Paolo Mazzarello’s book on the encounter of Lombroso and Tolstoy was reviewed (among others) by: A. Colombo Corriere della Sera, 5 February 1999; D. Frigessi La Stampa (Tuttolibrh, 25 February 1999; S. Modeo La Rivista dei Libri (The New York Review of Books - Eclizione Italiana), aprile 1999; G. Gaspari Belfagor Vol. 54 (numero 321) p. 387 (1999); O. del Buono e G. Boatti La Stampa (Tuttolibri) 3 July 1999; C. Palmerini Le Scienze, August 1999; M. Ciardi Nuncius, anno XVI (fasc. 1): 456-457 (2001); S. Fiori, La Repubblica 2 July 2005; M. Dotti, Il Manifesto, 30 November 2005; D. Ribatti, La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, 4 November 2005; A. Giannini, Mente & Cervello, rt.18, November-December 2005; S. Luzzatto, Corriere della Sera 7 January 2006; R. Speziale-Bagliacca, Psicoterapia e Scienze Umane, Fasc. 1, 2006; A. Droscher, Annali di Storia delle Universitatà Italiana, vol.l0, pp.432-433, 2006.
4)Paolo Mazzarello’s fourth topic of research is related to an interesting relationship between science and human passion in the life of Alessandro Volta, the physicist who invented the electric battery in 1799-1800. Behind the events which, at the end, led to this invention, lies a story of human weakness, delusional sentiments, romantic obsession. Mazzarello has published a book (Il professore e la cantante. La grande storia d'amore di Alessandro Volta, Bollati Boringhieri, Turin, first edition January 2009, second edition May 2009) which has been extensively and positively reviewed in numerous Italian newspapers and magazines: La Repubblica, 22 January 2009, 24 January 2009; 18 October 2009; Corriere della Sera, 14 February 2009; 11 March 2009; Il Manifesto 8 March 2009; Le Scienze, 1 April 2009; Il Mattino, 11 February 2009; Il Foglio 20 June 2009; La Stampa 31 January 2009; Amadeus 1 March 2009; L'Indice dei Libri del Mese 1 November 2009.
Concerning Volta, Mazzarello has also recently discovered an unpublished letter (Istituto Lombardo, Rendiconti Scienze 142, 213-224, 2008) and has written a paper for the widely known Italian publisher Einaudi (Atlante Storico della Letteratura Italiana in press 2010).
5) Paolo Mazzarello has published many papers on different but related topics, in international journals, which exerted a significant impact on the history of medicine and on neuroscience. He has co-authored a paper on radial glia (Brain Res. Bull. 49: 305-315, 1999, quoted), and authored papers on the history of cell theory (Nat. Cell Biol, 1, E13-E15, 1999), on dreams (Nature 408, 523, 2000), on the history of cell biology (Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell. Biol. 2, 776-781, 2001), on the history of visual area (J Hist. Neurosci. 2, 315-322, 1993).
\ He has also published on neurological and psychiatric topics (see for example J Pain Symptom Manage. 2000; 20(4):280-285; J Clin Psychiatry. 2000; 6l(1): 64; J Clin Psychopharmacol. 1999; 19(1):101-103; J Clin. Neurosci. 2002; 9(3):310-311; Acta Neurol Scand. 1993; 88(6):406-409; J Neurol Sci. 1992; 112(1-2):4-14; ), on molecular biology and molecular neuroscience (see for example Nucleic Acids Res. 1990; 18(19):5775-5780; Mutat Res. 1990; 237(2):65-73; Biochem J. 1992; 287 (Pt.3):1007-10l0; Chromosoma. 1992; 102(1 Suppl): S67-S71.
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