L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 4 MARIELLA RADAELLI NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS S he was an amaz- i n g , w i t t y l a d y with the grace of a swan, yet strong- willed, indepen- dent, and resilient. A splen- did role model like no other in Italy, Rita Levi-Montal- c i n i ( A p r i l 2 2 , 1 9 0 9 – December 30, 2012) was a Nobel Prize-winning neurol- ogist and one of the smartest women who ever lived. I n 1 9 5 4 , a f t e r y e a r s o f obsessive study, she discov- ered the nerve growth fac- tor (NGF), a protein that w h e n r e l e a s e d b y c e l l s attracts nerve growth from n e a r b y d e v e l o p i n g c e l l s . Until that time, scientists did n o t u n d e r s t a n d h o w t h e development of the nervous s y s t e m w a s r e g u l a t e d t o result in the final complete innervation of the body. In 1986, Rita was award- e d t h e N o b e l P r i z e i n Physiology or Medicine for that discovery. She died a g e d 1 0 3 y e a r s a s t h e l o n g e s t - l i v e d N o b e l Laureate. "Her memory was incredibly capacious and lucid until the end", says her n i e c e P i e r a L e v i - Montalcini, electronics e n g i n e e r , F o u n d e r a n d P r e s i d e n t o f t h e L e v i - Montalcini Association. To understand Rita's his- toric journey, I met Piera, who is also on the Board of Directors of the foundation established by both of her aunts, the pioneer in neuro- science Rita and her twin sister Paola, a well-known painter who was a pupil of m o d e r n i s t a r t i s t F e l i c e Casorati. M s . P i e r a L e v i - Montalcini, your Aunt Rita addressed to you the following words in h e r l a s t w i l l : " D e e p l y moved by your desire to keep the memory of our family alive, I consider you my spiritual heir." What emotion did you e x p e r i e n c e w h e n y o u heard that? And what does it mean to you to keep up your aunt's tan- g i b l e m e m o r y b y a l s o transmitting her virtues for posterity? The duty I already felt was heightened and deepened after her will was disclosed. At the time, I was already p r a i s i n g m y f a m i l y ' s t a l - ents—I am referring to the three siblings. Rita's twin sister Paola and their broth- er Gino, my father, emblem- atic figures for the 1900s. Almost everything is known about Aunt Rita, while the w o r k o f A u n t P a o l a a s a p a i n t e r d e s e r v e s f u r t h e r analysis and study. Rita said that her sister "never cloned h e r s e l f . " P a o l a g r a d u a l l y adhered to all the art move- ments of the 1900s. I like to think of Aunt Rita as a sci- ence artist and Aunt Paola as an art scientist. There is still a l o t t o w r i t e a b o u t m y f a t h e r , s t a r t i n g f r o m h i s early career as an architect with projects that place him among the first and most important representatives of the rationalist movement in Italy, without mentioning his skills as a caricaturist, portraitist, and sculptor. Their talents nurtured one another through continuous interaction, the long discus- sions on aesthetics, philoso- phy, language and science. My only commitment is to s e r v e t h e s e t h r e e g r e a t minds, not simply celebrate the sense of belonging to the Levi-Montalcini family. I have a strong desire to put at the disposal of scholars all t h e d o c u m e n t s f r o m m y family archives collected over more than a century a n d s p r e a d m y f a m i l y ' s teachings. Given the amount of work it requires, I fear my strength is insufficient to achieve this goal, yet I con- tinue to hope I can find peo- ple or institutions passionate about the intellectual skills of these three siblings. I n 1 9 4 7 , R i t a w a s i n v i t e d t o w o r k a t Washington University i n S t . L o u i s . S h e remained there for 30 y e a r s b e f o r e f i n a l l y r e t u r n i n g t o R o m e w h e r e s h e w a s a l s o a senator for life, and a prolific essayist. T h e N o b e l P r i z e i n M e d i c i n e 1 9 8 6 w a s awarded jointly to her a n d A m e r i c a n b i o - chemist Stanley Cohen "for their discoveries of growth factors." The fol- l o w i n g y e a r , i n 1 9 8 7 , P r e s i d e n t R e a g a n a w a r d e d h e r t h e N a t i o n a l M e d a l o f S c i e n c e . H o w d i d s h e l i k e l i v i n g i n t h e U S where she taught neuro- biology until 1977? What she remembered m o s t w i l l i n g l y i n t h e U S were the laboratories, col- leagues, and the possibility of finding research grants. She traveled a lot for confer- ences, also during the holi- day periods, as returning to Europe for a short break was difficult. The friends of that t i m e r e m a i n e d f r i e n d s throughout their lives. Her discovery in 1954 provided and allowed a greater understanding of pathologies such as A l z h e i m e r ' s , s e n i l e dementia, and cancer. If Rita were still alive, how much would she think there is still to be done to eradicate those series diseases from the face of the earth? According to her close co- researchers, many things are still to be understood before we can declare victory over them. My aunt conveyed to me her belief that medical research is useful for the dis- Rita Levi-Montalcini (left) with her niece Piera (Photo courtesy of Archivio di Famiglia Piera Levi-Montalcini) Continued to page 6 Piera Levi-Montalcini: working to preserve the legacy of Nobel laureate Rita Levi-Montalcini and her equally brilliant siblings

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