Life and achievements
Early life
Rita Levi-Montalcini was born in 1909 in Turin, Italy, to a Sephardic Jewish family. Her father, Adamo Levi, was an engineer mathematician, and her mother, Adele Montalcini, was a painter. Levi-Montalcini, from a conservative background, had her father ending her education, as that would hinder her from being a wife and mother. However, Levi-Montalcini never wavered in her desire to continue her education and choose her career path; following the death of a family friend to cancer, she became a doctor. She began her studies in medical school at the University of Turin in 1930, where she was mentored by a famous neurophysiologist named Giuseppe Levi.
The early work of Levi-Montalcini was concerned with the growth and differentiation of the nervous system. He had the opportunity to work with Levi after she graduated summa cum laude in 1936 and stayed at the university. However, she had to quit her academic career when, in 1938, Italy passed racist laws that deprived Jews of the possibility to work in academics or any other sphere.
Levi-Montalcini did not give up, and with the help of her family, she created a laboratory in her bedroom where she continued experimenting with chicken embryos, studying the growth of nerves. During this time, her work became the foundation for discovering nerve growth factor (NGF).
Legacy
Rita Levi-Montalcini was a strong-willed woman who defeated all the odds, was a genius in her field, and encouraged educational reform. She identified the nerve growth factor, which was a breakthrough in the field of neurobiology and has continued to affect the study of the nervous system and neurodegenerative diseases.
For her research, Levi-Montalcini was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1986, but this time, she shared it with a colleague, Stanley Cohen. In addition to the science she accomplished, she pioneered women in science, successfully struggling against prejudices and becoming successful in a man's world.
Even at an advanced age, she continued to work on research and promote science to the public up to the 90s. Besides the Nobel Prize, Levi-Montalcini received many other awards, such as the National Medal of Science in the United States, and was granted a lifetime senatorship in the Italian Senate.
Her scientific work has helped to form generations of neuroscientists, and the Rita Levi-Montalcini Foundation also aims to help young scientists, especially women, in Africa and Italy. After she passed away at 103, her work in science and the fight for education and women's rights are still a source of inspiration.
Milestone moments
Jun 30, 1936
Graduation from the University of Turin Medical School
Levi-Montalcini obtained her medical and biological degree summa cum laude in 1936 from the University of Turin.
After graduation, she had a successful academic career, which was cut short by the political instability in Italy.
Levi-Montalcini was passionate about research, even with the difficulties of World War II and fascism.
Mar 13, 1938
Anti-Semitic Laws and Home Laboratory
In 1938, Mussolini's racial laws constrained Levi-Montalcini from her academic post because of her Jewish origin.
Instead of quitting, she converted her bedroom into a lab and continued researching nerve growth.
This was a crucial period in Levi-Montalcini's formation as a scientist, and she identified nerve cell growth during this period.
Jun 14, 1946
Relocation to Washington University St. Louis
In 1946, she went to Washington University in St. Louis, USA, to take up a research fellowship with Viktor Hamburger.
To Hamburger's delight, she quickly duplicated her wartime research and was offered a long-term research position that would become her most productive years of discovery.
Levi-Montalcini's time in St. Louis would result in the extraction of nerve growth factor in 1952, a significant discovery.
Oct 17, 1952
The Discovery of Nerve Growth Factor
In 1952, Levi-Montalcini, in collaboration with Stanley Cohen, extracted the nerve growth factor (NGF), a protein that plays a significant role in the growth and support of the nervous system.
They found that one type played a crucial role in cell signaling and another in cell division, offering the basis for future research into diseases as diverse as Alzheimer's.
This discovery later brought Levi-Montalcini and Cohen the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.