Angelo Celli | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1857-03-25)25 March 1857 Cagli, Italy |
| Died | 2 November 1914(1914-11-02) (aged 57) |
| Resting place | Frascati 41°29′N12°25′E / 41.49°N 12.41°E /41.49; 12.41 |
| Alma mater | Royal University of Rome |
| Known for | Genus namePlasmodium Malaria control Public health |
| Spouse | Anna Fraentzel |
| Awards | Mary Kingsley medal |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Medicine Zoology Hygiene |
| Institutions | University of Palermo Pasteur Institute of Italy Royal University of Rome |
| Author abbrev. (zoology) | Celli |
Angelo Celli (25 March 1857 – 2 November 1914)[1] was an Italianphysician,hygienist,parasitologist andphilanthropist known for his pioneering work on themalarial parasite and control ofmalaria.[2][3] He was Professor of Hygiene at theUniversity of Palermo, and then at theSapienza University of Rome. He founded thePasteur Institute of Italy. With his wife Anna Fraentzel he established a number of medical schools in theRoman Campagna and dispensaries in Rome. He andEttore Marchiafava correctly described the protozoan parasite that caused malaria and gave it the scientific namePlasmodium in 1885. Understanding the nature of malaria, he was among the first scientists to advocate and work for eradication of insects to preventinfectious diseases.[4][5] He was elected to theSenate of the Kingdom of Italy in 1892.[6][7]
Angelo Celli graduated in medicine in 1878 at theSapienza University of Rome. He joined the pathology department as assistant toTommasi-Crudeli. In 1886, he was appointed Professor of Hygiene at the University of Palermo. He founded the Pasteur Institute at Palermo in 1887. He returned to the University of Rome in 1888 where he worked to his last day.[7][8]
Celli married a German nurse Anna Fraentzel (born 1878), who was known for her voluntary health service during theFirst World War.[9] They met inHamburg where Celli was on a professional visit. They got married in 1899 and worked together in Rome. Celli died in 1914, and his wife in 1958.[10] They are both interred in the cemetery of Frascati.[1]
In 1880 withEttore Marchiafava Celli studied a newprotozoan discovered byAlphonse Laveran in the blood of malarial patients. Subsequently, it was shown to be the causative agent of malaria. He studied the biology and pathogenesis of the malarial plasmodium for years after this, working with Ettore Marchiafava,Amico Bignami,Giovanni Battista Grassi andGiuseppe Bastianelli.[11] They were the first to use proper staining (withmethylene blue) to identify malarial parasites as distinct blue-coloured particles in blood cells. They showed that the parasites lived inside the blood cell, and that they divide by simple splitting (fission). They were the first to recognize several of thestages of development of the malarial parasite in human blood. They called the new microorganismPlasmodium in 1885. Their works helped to differentiate different types of malaria as a result of infection with different species ofPlasmodium.[12][13]
Angelo Celli is famous in Rome (amarble sculpture of him is in the "Biblioteca dell'Istituto d'Igiene “G. Santarelli” in the Città Universitaria nearPincio) for his achievements as a hygienist,sociologist, and parliamentary deputy. After the formation of the Chinino di stato (a state organisation controlling prices of drugs, preventing sales of illegal or counterfeit drugs, and prosecuting speculators), he ensured that it applied to malaria medicines. The drugs were soon supplied free to the poor.
At the time thePontine Marshes, the wetlands inTuscany for instanceMaremma andBasilicata were malarial areas.Francisco Saverio Nitti asserted thatAtella, as an example, remained deserted until the adoption of the laws passed by the Chinino di Stato. Since the populations were illiterate and had afatalistic attitude to malaria, he organized “Le Scuole per i Contadini dell'Agro Romano e le Paludi Pontine,” in English, "Schools for the Peasants of Agro Romano (vast areas of land around Rome)and Paludi Pontine (Pontine Marshes)" to educate and inform them. This scheme was subsequently adopted by Argentina and Greece.
Celli's scientific and social achievements led to his receiving theLaurea Honoris Causa from theUniversity of Athens and theRoyal Society for the Promotion of Health in London. He was awarded theMary Kingsley medal by theLiverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
Although the Celli archives are preserved at the Faculty of experimental medicine and pathology of the Sapienza University of Rome,[14] some letters and documents attesting Celli's constant engagement in favour of public healthcare and his passion as scholar and teacher of hygiene are kept in the library of theMuseo Galileo inFlorence.[15]
