Giuseppe Bastianelli (25 October 1862 – 30 March 1959) was an Italianphysician andzoologist who worked onmalaria and was the personal physician ofPope Benedict XV.
Born inRome, Bastianelli was initially interested inchemistry,physiology andneurology; subsequently he became interested in the study ofmalaria. He worked in the "Santo Spirito a Roma" hospital withEttore Marchiafava,Angelo Celli andAmico Bignami, studying the clinical aspects of this disease. He then moved to theSapienza University of Rome where he directed l'Istituto di Malariologia, the Institute of Malarial studies dedicated toEttore Marchiafava, where he worked until he died. The institute was a major contributor to the campaign that led to the complete eradication ofmalaria inItaly.
Giuseppe Bastianelli was born in Rome on October 25, 1862, in a family originally fromUmbria,Italy, from Giulio Bastianelli and Teresa Zanca.Being the son of Giulio Bastianelli, chief physician in theOspedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia inRome and municipal councilor, as well as the nephew of asurgeon operating in Trevi in Umbria, Giuseppe Bastianelli grew up in a medical-influenced environment, along with his younger brother Raffaele Bastianelli. This oriented his younger self towards the development of medical interests, which he will then explore and deepen during his university years. His elder brother Raffaele Bastianelli[1] (Rome, 26 December 1863 –Rome, 1 September 1961) undertook a successful career as well, being a surgeon specialized inoncology as well as a political figure due to his nomination of senator.
Giuseppe Bastianelli attended the Medicine faculty at the University of Rome, and he explored with diligence the subjects ofphysics andchemistry but especially ofphysiology, soon becoming a student of the physiologistJacob Moleschott, with whom he started interesting investigations on intestinal juices, which were unfortunately interrupted then for lack of means. He also studiedchemistry withStanislao Cannizzaro.
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He obtained a medical degree in 1885 and thus, a medical culture of the highest order was formed, which later made him gain recognition even outside of Italy (primarily in America, England and Germany). In 1891, at twenty-nine years old, Bastianelli earned the title of primary doctor in theOspedale di Santo Spirito in SassiaRome, where he worked alongside the physiciansAngelo Celli,Ettore Marchiafava andAmico Bignami, especially in the field of thephysiopathology ofmalaria. He became professor atSapienza University of Rome and dirigent of The Institute of Malariology "E. Marchiafava", and he was the only member of the Roman School of Malariology to take part in the campaign of eradication of malaria, in support of the work of Alberto Coluzzi.
"Con Bastianelli possiamo ben dire che scompare dalla scuola medica romana un grande scienziato e dalla società un uomo probo ed onesto che meritatamente fu chiamato ad occupare un seggio nel Senato italiano"[2]
Giuseppe Bastianelli was then awarded the nomination ofsenator in 1939, due to his admirable scientific accomplishments, and he was able to get the recognition he deserved for his excellence in both the medical and social field. He died inRome on March 30, 1959, at the age of ninety-six.
Bastianelli dedicated himself to a long series of researches on the various clinical forms ofmalaria, a life-threateningdisease that represented one of the most serious issues of the social medicine of his time and that claimed many human victims in some areas close toRome, where himself lived. Between 1880 and 1885, he and his colleaguesAngelo Celli,Ettore Marchiafava,Amico Bignami,Camillo Golgi andGiovanni Battista Grassi contributed to the resolution of this big social and sanitary issue by associating a different species ofPlasmodium to each type of malaric fever: the most severe form of malaria, calledterzana maligna was attributed toPlasmodium falciparum, while a milder form of the disease calledterzana benigna was associated toPlasmodium vivax.[3][4]
The research that, among all, gave Bastianelli his fame was that on the cycle of the parasite in theanopheles.[5] Bastianelli and Bignami worked on anopheles that were caught and sent to them by Grassi and fed with the blood of malarici, allowing them to finally obtain the development of the parasite: they could therefore describe all the phases of the sporogonic cycle of Plasmodium Vivax from the Cocists stage of 42 hours until the formation and liberation of the sporozoites, and they presented their report on the subject to theAccademia dei Lincei on December the 4th 1898.
Between September 1898 and February 1899,Giovanni Battista Grassi, entomologist at the Roman School ofMalariology, concluded the work on the identification ofmalaria vectors, and together with Bastianelli and Bignami he clarified the biological pattern of plasmodia from Anophelesmosquito to man in studies conducted inOspedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia in Rome usingAnopheles claviger.[6]Once the biological pattern of malaria transmission had been identified, all the possible breaking points in the transmission chain were considered to achieve the target of stopping it.[6]
Bastianelli was also among the firsts attempting to conduct modern clinical trials in Italy on antimalarial agents, in respect of whichmethodology used is particularly relevant. Main features of his trials are the attention to both historical controls and concurrent controls, the accurate description of side effects, the interest in the short-term findings to assess whether the action of the preventive or therapeutic interventions persisted over time.[7]
Between 1891 and 1892,Bastianelli dedicated himself to the study of the function ofleukocytes in theblood, concluding that circulating mononucleatedcells behave in the same way as the fixed elements of the splenic and medullary pulp with which they share the morphological significance: an observation that anticipated the concept of thereticuloendothelial system, which was established only some years later.In addition, he illustrated thepathogenesis ofmalariahemoglobinuria and the passage of parasites from mother tofetus.
In 1926, Bastianelli was entrusted with the teaching of medical semeiotics at the University of Rome, occupying the first chair of semiotics inItaly, which he left in 1935 for age limits. His vast culture allowed him to form a large group of pupils, and he established a new educational course which was mainly practical and consisted in putting small groups of students in contact with the patient and instructing them with the help of his collaborators.The method became established and was followed by numerous doctors; practical teaching was supplemented by a few theoretical lessons, real essays onanatomy,physiology,physics andchemistry applied to sick people.He endowed and enriched the institute, even only for generous personal donations, of the best scientific apparatus.
The InstituteEttore Marchiafava was born as an evolution of the Superior School ofMalariology, established inRome in 1925 as an output of the international Congress of malaria. The school was established with the aim ofPromoting studies and training on all the medical problems related to malaria and on the reclamation and on the cultivation of marshy areas.[6]
Initially, the institute was directed by Professor Vittorio Ascoli and had its headquarters at the Medical Center of the Royal University of Rome.Bastianelli succeeded to Ascoli, being appointed Director on March 25, 1931. With the new direction, the school was relocated from the medical clinic to the IX pavilion of thePoliclinico Umberto I. Six years on from its creation, the School was transformed into theInstitute ofMalariologyEttore Marchiafava because more suitable toward research. The Institute had the aim of teaching malariology and studying malaria.[6][8]
In the Institute there were courses of specialization for doctors from all over the world, initially promoted by theLeague of Nations, to create competent personnel to be sent to the different countries struggling with malaria. During these courses, Bastianelli organized trips and visits to the areas ofItaly most plagued bymalaria to illustrate the organization and defensive andprophylactic network against it and to raise awareness on chronicmalaria. Over the years, he followed the development of studies onmalaria.
Later, during the conflict of the Second World War, the Laboratory ofMalariology continued its work of research, despite the imaginable difficulties of the moment. The activity, in fact, took place mainly in the laboratory and to a very limited extent in the field.[6] Giuseppe Bastianelli was the only member of theRoman School ofMalariology to take part in the campaign oferadication ofmalaria, supporting the work of Alberto Coluzzi.
Text was copied from this source, which is available under aCreative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) license.
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