Giuseppe Levi

Giuseppe Levi
Levi c. 1900s
Born(1872-10-14)14 October 1872
Died3 February 1965(1965-02-03) (aged 92)
Turin, Piedmont, Italy
OccupationProfessor of human anatomy
Known forPioneer of in vitro studies on cultured cells
Spouse
Lidia Tanzi
(m. 1901; died 1957)
Children5, including Natalia
Relatives
Academic work
Discipline
Institutions
Notable students

Giuseppe Levi (14 October 1872 – 3 February 1965) was an Italian anatomist and histologist, professor of human anatomy (since 1916) at the universities of Sassari, Palermo and Turin. He was a pioneer of in vitro studies of cultured cells, and contributed to the study of the nervous system, especially on the plasticity of sensory ganglion cells.[1] While in Turin, Levi tutored three students who later won the Nobel Prize: Salvador Luria, Renato Dulbecco and Rita Levi-Montalcini.[1]

He was admitted as a national member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in 1926.[2] In 1931 he subscribed to the oath of allegiance to the Fascist regime imposed to university professors.

Personal life

Born in Trieste to Jewish parents Michele Levi and Emma Perugia,[3] he was married to Lidia Tanzi and had five children: Gino, Mario, Alberto, Paola (who became the wife of Adriano Olivetti), and writer Natalia Ginzburg (wife of Leone Ginzburg and mother of Carlo Ginzburg),[4][2] who described her father's personality in the successful Italian book Lessico famigliare (1963).

References

  1. ^ a b M. Bentivoglio; A. Vercelli; G. Filogamo (December 2006). "Giuseppe Levi: mentor of three Nobel laureates". Journal of the History of the Neurosciences. 15 (4): 358–68. doi:10.1080/09647040600888974. PMID 16997763. S2CID 43524445.
  2. ^ a b "Giuseppe Levi" (in Italian). Enciclopedia Treccani online. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
  3. ^ Pannese, Ennio (2005). "LEVI, Giuseppe". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. Retrieved 2012-12-30.
  4. ^ Patrizia Acobas. "Natalia Ginzburg 1916 – 1991". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 2012-08-13.

Bibliography

External sources