Rita Levi-Montalcini, the greatest woman scientist (and probably the greatest Italian scientist of all!) that Italy has ever had is turning 100 years old today.
Born into a well-off Jewish family in Turin in 1909, she fought hard for her career from the beginning. First there was her domineering father, who didn't believe in higher education for women. Then there were Benito Mussolini's race laws, which ejected Jews from universities and forced her into hiding. And after that there was the scientific establishment, which refused to believe in the existence of nerve growth factor (NGF), the discovery of which eventually won Rita a share of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, together with her colleague Stanley Cohen. Their research conducted while members of the faculty of Washington University, was of fundamental importance to the understanding of cell and organ growth and played a significant role in understanding cancers and diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Despite her age, Rita still works every day, exquisitely dressed, hair stylishly coiffured, hands perfectly manicured. In the mornings she shows up at her namesake European Brain Research Institute (EBRI)–Rita Levi-Montalcini, on the outskirts of Rome. In the afternoons she goes downtown to the offices of an educational foundation for African women that she created in 1992.
Now hard of hearing and nearly blind, she is the grand old lady of the Italian Senate, where she became senator for life in 2001, an honour bestowed on former presidents and prominent figures in social, scientific, artistic or literary fields.
“The body may die but the messages that we have sent in life remain. Mine is - believe in values”. she said a couple of days ago during an early birthday party hosted by the Italian President.
Buon Compleanno, Rita!
