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'''Francesco Durante''' (29 June 1844 – 2 October 1934) was an Italian politician and surgeon. He was the first to perform a brain surgery in 1884 in Rome. |
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'''Francesco Durante''' was an Italian politician and surgeon. |
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== Biography == |
== Biography == |
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=== Childhood === |
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Francesco Durante was born in Letojanni on June 29, 1844. His parents were Giovanna Giuseppa Galeano and Domenico Durante, he had a brother named Giuseppe who died at the age of 14 for unspecified causes. His mother Giovanna Giuseppa Galliano born in Gallodoro on 13 December 1815 died in Letojanni on 19 April 1855 at the age of forty. The father was elected mayor of Letojanni from March 1880 to May 1884, and transferred the administrative seat of the Municipality from Gallodoro to the small seaside village of Letojanni (Messina). |
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Francesco Durante was born in [[Letojanni]] on 29 June 1844 to Giovanna Giuseppa Galeano and Domenico Durante. |
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Francesco's carefree dreams were interrupted when, after his mother's death, his father Domenico entrusted him to the care of a religious tutor from Taormina Don di Blasi who helped him and guided him in the choice of studies most congenial to him. From Taormina he moved to Messina where he completed his humanistic preparation always under the guidance of the elderly priest who takes particular care of the teaching of Latin; this language will help him in understanding many scientific words and later in reading the ancient classics. In the Peloritan city the decision to enroll in the medical faculty of Naples matured. The reason of the choice of this university is not easily understandable. Certainly he was attracted by the prestige enjoyed by the teachers of that seat, the oldest in the kingdom, founded by Frederick Second of Swabia on June 5, 1224, and by the absolute lack of sentimental ties that to some extent could have influenced his choice. In Messina, on the other hand, he had his first contacts with the youth clubs which, in the Risorgimento period, were teeming with liberal ideas. These frequentations continued in Naples in the aggregation centers, where young university students met, to discuss the political problems of the time and the proposals for changing the organization of the state, the Bourbon oppression, which stifled the ideals of unity of freedom, which they have always been the subject of discussion by young university students of all times and in all locations. |
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His father was elected mayor of Letojanni (from March 1880 to May 1884) and transferred the administrative seat of the municipality from Gallodoro to the small seaside village of Letojanni. After the death of his mother Giovanna Giuseppa Galeano, Francesco’s father entrusted him to the care of a religious tutor of [[Taormina]] Don di Blasi who directed him in the choice of studies.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Garrozzo|first=Aldo|title=Francesco Durante|publisher=Ursini edizioni|pages=15-18}}</ref> |
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In 1864 representatives of 57 workers' societies had gathered in Naples, of which father Domenico was a member. Their children in those years began to study medicine there. In Naples he successfully attended the faculty of medicine and surgery, where he graduated on January 7, 1868.The original degree certificate is not available in the historical archive of the Federico Secondo University of Naples. A fire, caused by German troops in 1943, during the Second World War, destroyed all documents relating to the medical faculty; while only a few other documents were saved at the time and placed elsewhere. The date of graduation can instead be deduced from the service status of the Ministry of Public Education in the Historical Archives of the Senate of the Kingdom. After graduating in medicine, Francesco Durante explained to his father the need to attend the most prestigious European centers, both in terms of research and clinics. This need to confront other realities represents an important moment in the training of the young doctor who, greedy for knowledge, already seems to have understood that research is fundamental, to undertake any clinical activity, both medical and surgical. Durante participate in a competition notice relating to the recruitment of a surgeon at the Santa Maria Nuova hospital in Florence. He presented himself listlessly but instead, having passed the test, I began to work with great commitment. His activity was soon interrupted, because he was offered the opportunity to attend, through a scholarship, the pathological anatomy laboratory of the great Rudolf Virchow. Before reaching Berlin, we find the Stricher and Billroth School of Surgery in Vienna. The first was a refined researcher, the second a brilliant surgeon passionate about art especially music; on 29 March 1887 we find him at the Scala in Milan at the premiere of Verdi's Otello where Durante joined him. Billroth was considered, in those days, despite the apparent extravagance, the best surgeon of the digestive system; he was the first to be able to remove, due to a pyloric cancer, a large part of the stomach and to bite the residual stump in the duodenum. This gastro-duodenum-ostomy is still referred to today as a type one ruptured bile surgery. Subsequently he makes changes to this technique, performing a gastrojejunostomy, which takes the name of type II Billroth surgery. Durante tutte le tecniche più avanzate, che un modo per osservare personalmente che sperimenterà successivamente un ritorno in patria, apportando modifiche personali, per migliorare i risultati, trasferendo agli allievi le tecniche più raffinate. L'insegnamento costituirà l'obiettivo principale perdurante, che lo eserciterà per quasi cinquant'anni e l'amicizia con Billroth durerà pure a lungo. I due amici si incontreranno in tante occasioni ufficiali, per confrontarsi e per scambiarsi i risultati delle loro esperienze. La curiosità innata, la sede prestigiosa in cui si trova ed i colloqui giornalieri avuti con il massimo esperto di oncologia dell'epoca, sicuramente influito sulla formulazione della "Teoria embriogenetica dei tumori", che da lì a qualche anno costituirà un momento esaltante per il giovane ricercatore, che intanto era già ritornato in Italia e che vedrà crescere la sua fama, superando i confini. La teoria, che fin da subito prese il nome di Conheim-Durante e fece il giro del mondo, in effetti fu formulata durante più di un anno prima del suo avversario, come gli stesso ricorderai nella nota del capitolo sesto del “Trattato di patologia terapia chirurgica ”, in cui cita con precisione la fonte bibliografica, evidenziando l'inesattezza cronologica di quanto proposti da Conheim. Anche Conheim fu allievo di Virchow a Berlino, ma Durante e Conheim non si incontrarono mai. La teoria è stata dimenticata per tanto tempo, perché soppiantate da altre. That is, that group of theories that are based on the hypothesis that point-like and random alterations of nuclear DNA could be able to give rise to tumor clones capable of growing and metastasizing afinalistically at any time. Recently the Conheim-Durante theory has been re-proposed the light of the re-evaluation of stem cells, which are nothing more than aberrant embryonic cells, identified in the context of normal tissues, from which tumors can originate at any time.Virchow had sensed the vivacity of intellect of the time, so he is offered to extend, at his own expense, the young man's stay in Germany, when the scholarship he was the owner of had expired. But the boundaries of a scientific institute (albeit a prestigious one) were narrow to Francis, he called for freedom and operativity for which, consistent with his principles, driven by the hope of meeting Garibaldi and his Garibaldi friends, he considered it a duty to help oppressed peoples even if of other nationalities. He therefore leaves the Institute of Pathological Anatomy in Berlin, taking advantage of the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, in which I participate at the head of the German Red Cross, where he stands out for the tireless relief work he has done, which not only gives him an honor it cannot be referred to military valor, because Durante was not a Prussian military, but enriches him with a traumatological and human surgical experience, which he will always remember positively in future experiences. On that occasion, a Prussian front-line soldier presented a massive hemorrhage due to the rupture of the subclavian vein. Getting the patient to the rear would have been too risky and valuable time would have been lost. Durante decides to run to the front in nobody's territory with the risk of being hit by enemy fire and by lantern light with modest war instruments, he manages to stop the bleeding and attach the stumps of the interrupted vessel. For this gesture, when the Prussian ambassador reaches Paris, he looks for Durante, to give him an honor in the name of the King of Prussia, but cannot find him. His father Domenico is reached through diplomatic channels who, unaware of what has happened, tracks down his son asking: "Francesco, what have you done?" And he proudly replied: "Dad, nothing everyone should be ashamed of."Later he attended the surgery courses held in London by Ferguson and Spencer, but this stay did not last long, because the gloomy and humid London climate was not congenial to him. However, here he observes that the sterilization of surgical instruments takes place by boiling or by using dry stoves that he will later perfect, fascinated by this topic, here he assigns great responsibility in the success of the surgical interventions. The all-European experience through various prestigious research institutes and clinics certainly contributed to completing Francesco's medical training during. In some ways it is similar to the frequency of the various clinics by university students who, having come close to graduation, have not yet chosen the specialty to follow in future years and, therefore, are looking for favorable situations for continuing their studies. In this wandering around Europe, however, Francesco Durante had made a masterful synthesis of knowledge congenial to him, choosing the most manual intellectual activities: surgery, which would have allowed him, in the historical period in which he lived, not to be second to nobody. Lover of the art of harmony, which is found in it, he knew how to deal with love and surgical disease with his intelligence, where in the form and substance and Sartre and the structure of the human machine, reconstructing an alternative functional harmony, which intuition and profound knowledge of physiological mechanisms allow it to continue functioning. |
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=== Formation === |
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From Taormina he moved to [[Messina]] where he completed the humanistic preparation always under the guidance of the elderly priest. In the Peloritan city he matured the decision to enroll in the Faculty of Medicine of [[Naples]] where he successfully graduated on January 7, 1868. Soon after that, Francesco Durante explained to his father the need to attend the most prestigious European centres, both in terms of research and clinical activity. This need to confront other realities represents an important moment in the training of the young doctor. |
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During a call for tenders related to the recruitment of a surgeon at the Santa Maria Nuova hospital in [[Florence]], passed the test and immediately began to work. His activity soon stopped, because he was offered the opportunity to attend, by means of a scholarship, the laboratory of pathological anatomy of the great [[Rudolf Virchow]]. Before reaching Berlin he attended [[Theodor Billroth|Theodore Billroth]]’s surgery school; at that time he was considered the best surgeon of the digestive system ([[Billroth II]]).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Garrozzo|first=Aldo|title=Francesco Durante|publisher=Ursini edizioni|pages=20}}</ref> Durante had the opportunity to learn advanced techniques and improve them in order to share his knowledge with his students. Teaching will be the main goal, which he will practice for almost fifty years. |
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Durante became Senator of the kingdom of Italy in the 16th Legislature. He was one of the first surgeons in Italy and in the world to successfully remove brain tumors. During the [[First World War]], he gave his all and besides avoided the mutilation of thousands of soldiers. In 1908 he moved to Messina, just devastated by an earthquake, with a load of medical materials and with a group of volunteers and developed surgical pavilions. He followed [[Hippocrates]]' doctrine; doctor has to heal and soothe without profit purposes. He became president of the Order of Surgeons in Italy. In 1919 he decided to leave Rome and to return definitively to [[Sicily]]. He retired to private life in his home in [[Letojanni]] where he died on 2 October 1934. |
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== First achievements in the medical field == |
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The "poor" in Letojanni, erected a monument, unveiled during a solemn ceremony in honor of Durante himself in 1923. It is a bronze statue by the sculptor from [[Palermo]] [[Ettore Ximenes]], donated to the residents of Letojanni and that is located in what is today “Piazza Durante”. |
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The innate curiosity, the prestigious location in which he was located and the daily interviews he had with the greatest expert in oncology of the time, certainly influenced the formulation of the "Embryogenetic Theory of Tumours", which from there to a few years will be an exciting moment for the young researcher, who had already returned to Italy and who will see his fame grow, overcoming national borders. The theory, which took the name of Cohnheim-Durante, was in fact formulated more than a year before his opponent. [[Julius Friedrich Cohnheim|Cohnheim]] was a pupil of Virchow in Berlin as well, but they actually never met.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Garrozo|first=Aldo|title=Francesco Durante|publisher=Ursini edizioni|pages=22}}</ref> |
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This theory is based on the hypothesis that point and random alterations of nuclear DNA would give rise to tumour clones capable of growing and metastasizing at any time. Recently, the Cohnheim–Durante Theory has been revived in the light of the revaluation of [[stem cells]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Garrozzo|first=Aldo|title=Francesco Durante|publisher=23}}</ref> |
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He left the Institute of Pathological Anatomy of [[Berlin]], taking advantage of the outbreak of the [[Franco-Prussian War]], in which he participated as head of the [[German Red Cross]]. On that occasion a Prussian frontline soldier had an impressive [[haemorrhage]] from the rupture of the [[subclavian vein]]. Taking the patient to the rear would have been too risky and valuable time would have been wasted. Durante decides to run to the front in no man's land with the risk of being hit by the opposing fire, he manages to block the bleeding and attach the stumps of the interrupted vase. For this gesture, when the Prussian ambassador reaches [[Paris]], he seeks Durante, to award him an honour on behalf of the King of Prussia, but does not find him. Through diplomatic channels, his father Domenico is reached who, unaware of what happened, tracks down his son asking: |
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"Francesco, what have you done?" And he proudly replied, "Dad nothing you should be ashamed of."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Garrozzo|first=Aldo|title=Francesco Durante|publisher=Ursini Edizioni|year=2013|pages=23}}</ref> |
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He later attended surgery classes held in [[London]] by [[Sir William Fergusson, 1st Baronet|W. Ferguson]] and T. Spencer, but this stay lasts little and he observes that the [[Sterilization (microbiology)|sterilization]] of the surgical instruments takes place by boiling or by the use of dry stoves.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Garrozzo|first=Aldo|title=Francesco Durante|publisher=Ursini edizioni|pages=24}}</ref> His European experience, throughout various prestigious research institutes and clinics certainly contributed to the completion Durante's medical training. |
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=== Scientific career in Rome === |
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Between 1872 and 1873 we find him in [[Rome]], where he dedicated himself with great impetus to basic scientific research at professor Todaro's [[histology]] laboratory. It is a period of intense work that sees him engaged in completing some research started abroad and published the first two years in German and the third in French, "On the Organisation of the Thrombin in the Walls of the Vessels". It was not until 1887 at the International Congress in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] that Durante presented two scientific contributions in English: the first on the "Creation of an Artificial Year as a Preliminary Treatment of Rectal-Colic Disease" and a second on the "Technique for Removal of Endocranial Tumors". The remaining research is published in Italian, as well as almost all of his subsequent scientific production, which has more than 100 works. His scientific publications cover different fields of medicine and are produced over a period of more than forty years, from 1870 to 1919.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Garrozzo|first=Aldo|title=Francesco Durante|publisher=Ursini edizioni|pages=25}}</ref> |
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In 1873 Costanzo Mazzone, called him as an assistant to the chair of surgical clinic of the [[University of Rome La Sapienza|University of Rome]], teaching surgical anatomy, which he carries out with great passion in the old headquarters of the [[San Giacomo degli Incurabili]] hospital between [[Via di Ripetta]] and [[Via del Corso]] near the [[Mausoleum of Augustus]]. That was the first university chair, which he obtained together with the benevolence of his students.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Garrozzo|first=Aldo|title=Francesco Durante|publisher=Ursini edizioni|pages=34}}</ref> In 1874 he participated in a competition for a place of Ordinary Professor of Pathological Anatomy at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the [[University of Catania]], but he refused. This decision was influenced by the Roman scientific environment, which seemed to be more suitable for his interests. Considering the [[Italian unification|Unification of Italy]], the University of Rome would soon become a prestigious international venue. In the academic year 1877-1878 he obtained the chair of [[surgical pathology]] and then in 1881 the role of ordinary professor of the same discipline. In 1885, after the death of his master Costanzo Mazzone, he obtained the direction of the surgical clinic in Rome.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Garrozzo|first=Aldo|title=Francesco Durante|publisher=Ursini edizioni|pages=36}}</ref> Durante became Senator of the [[Kingdom of Italy]] in the 16th Legislature. He was one of the first surgeons in Italy and in the world to successfully remove brain tumours. During the [[First World War]], he gave his all and besides avoided the mutilation of thousands of soldiers. In 1908 he moved to [[Messina]], with a load of medical materials and with a group of volunteers and developed surgical pavilions. He followed [[Hippocrates]]' doctrine and became president of the Order of Surgeons in Italy. In 1919 he decided to leave Rome and to return definitively to [[Sicily]]. He retired to private life in his home in [[Letojanni]] where he died on 2 October 1934. |
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== Surgery of interest == |
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Even though his personal predisposition to the oncologic surgery, he was interested in the treatment of [[otorhinolaryngologic]] tumours, especially in those of larynx, oral cavity and tongue.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Garrozzo|first=Aldo|title=Francesco Durante|publisher=Ursini edizioni|pages=43}}</ref> This is due to the fact that at the time, [[Otorhinolaryngology|ORL]] specialisation didn’t exist as a subject in the university. Only in 1890, thanks to Baccelli’s contribute, Durante decided to use some rooms of Policlinico Umberto I in order to focus better on the study of ORL. On 19 April 1883, he performed the first [[laryngectomy]] in Italy, which wasn’t successfully. He then decided to improve the procedure of the time with his new techniques, which will result efficaciously. Durante cared about the individuality of patients, believing that adapting every surgery to the diversity of the single one was the right thing to do. Since he was the only clinic surgeon in Rome, Francesco Durante decided to intensify his professional activity by reaching the aristocratic, political and royal environments. He became the personal doctor of King Umberto I and, subsequently, of the whole Savoia family.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Garrozzo|first=Aldo|title=Francesco Durante|publisher=Ursini edizioni|pages=49}}</ref> |
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== Private life == |
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In 1876 he married Amalia Cocchi, from whom he had four daughters and one son. The marriage will last for twenty-five years. Despite the era, the wife was constantly involved in Durante's activities to the point that they were considered one of the most tight-knit couples.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Garrozzo|first=Aldo|title=Francesco Durante|publisher=Ursini edizioni|pages=42}}</ref> |
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== Designation of Senator for Life == |
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Durante was nominated [[Senator for Life]] on 26 January 1889 at the age of forty-four for his scientific achievements in the presence of King [[Umberto I di Savoia]]. He used this opportunity to create a network of influential people around him, crucial for his future battles for reforms in academic and clinical activities with the aim to make Rome the Capital of the kingdom. He focused on two important issues: insufficient space and inadequate salaries for professors.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Garrozzo|first=Aldo|title=Francesco Durante|publisher=Ursini edizioni|pages=51}}</ref> |
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== Policlinico Umberto I == |
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Another important battle Durante fought side by side with [[Guido Baccelli]] was the construction of a new hospital in Rome, that will later be called “[[Policlinico Umberto I]]” in the name of the king who granted the 10.000.000 Lire necessary for the construction, which started on 19 January 1888. Durante will continue to fight for better hygiene and overall conditions in the hospital environment, applying the knowledge he gathered during his years abroad. The construction of the Policlinico Umberto I was finished in 1902; it comprised forty-nine buildings connected to each other via tunnels that allowed for the separation of the patients according to their disease in order to prevent their spread inside the hospital.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Garrozzo|first=Aldo|title=Francesco Durante|publisher=Ursini edizioni|pages=71-85}}</ref> |
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== Honors == |
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* [[Order of Merit of the Italian Republic|Cavaliere di Gran Croce]] [[Order of the Crown of Italy|decorato di Gran Cordone dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia]] |
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* [[Civil Order of Savoy|Cavaliere dell'Ordine Civile di Savoia]] |
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* [[Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro|Cavaliere dell'Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro]] |
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== Works == |
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* ''Estirpazione di un tumore endocranico (forma morbosa prima e dopo l'operazione), in Bull. d. R. Acc. med. di Roma, XI, 1885, pp. 247-252'' |
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* ''Indirizzo alla diagnosi chirurgica dei tumori, 1879'' |
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*''Trattato di patologia e terapia chirurgica generale e speciale (3 vol.), Dante Alighieri, Roma, 1895'' |
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*''Nesso fisio-patologico tra la struttura dei nei materni e la genesi di alcuni tumori maligni, in Arch. di chir. prat., 1874'' |
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== References == |
== References == |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
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== Bibliography == |
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*Aldo Garrozzo, ''Francesco Durante,'' Ottobre 2013. |
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*Giuseppe Arnocida, "Francesco Durante" in ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 42'' (1993) su treccani.it |
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== External links == |
== External links == |
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Latest revision as of 00:28, 15 August 2022
Francesco Durante | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | June 29, 1844 |
| Died | October 2, 1934 |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | medicine |
Francesco Durante (29 June 1844 – 2 October 1934) was an Italian politician and surgeon. He was the first to perform a brain surgery in 1884 in Rome.
Biography
[edit]Childhood
[edit]Francesco Durante was born in Letojanni on 29 June 1844 to Giovanna Giuseppa Galeano and Domenico Durante.
His father was elected mayor of Letojanni (from March 1880 to May 1884) and transferred the administrative seat of the municipality from Gallodoro to the small seaside village of Letojanni. After the death of his mother Giovanna Giuseppa Galeano, Francesco’s father entrusted him to the care of a religious tutor of Taormina Don di Blasi who directed him in the choice of studies.[1]
Formation
[edit]From Taormina he moved to Messina where he completed the humanistic preparation always under the guidance of the elderly priest. In the Peloritan city he matured the decision to enroll in the Faculty of Medicine of Naples where he successfully graduated on January 7, 1868. Soon after that, Francesco Durante explained to his father the need to attend the most prestigious European centres, both in terms of research and clinical activity. This need to confront other realities represents an important moment in the training of the young doctor.
During a call for tenders related to the recruitment of a surgeon at the Santa Maria Nuova hospital in Florence, passed the test and immediately began to work. His activity soon stopped, because he was offered the opportunity to attend, by means of a scholarship, the laboratory of pathological anatomy of the great Rudolf Virchow. Before reaching Berlin he attended Theodore Billroth’s surgery school; at that time he was considered the best surgeon of the digestive system (Billroth II).[2] Durante had the opportunity to learn advanced techniques and improve them in order to share his knowledge with his students. Teaching will be the main goal, which he will practice for almost fifty years.
First achievements in the medical field
[edit]The innate curiosity, the prestigious location in which he was located and the daily interviews he had with the greatest expert in oncology of the time, certainly influenced the formulation of the "Embryogenetic Theory of Tumours", which from there to a few years will be an exciting moment for the young researcher, who had already returned to Italy and who will see his fame grow, overcoming national borders. The theory, which took the name of Cohnheim-Durante, was in fact formulated more than a year before his opponent. Cohnheim was a pupil of Virchow in Berlin as well, but they actually never met.[3]
This theory is based on the hypothesis that point and random alterations of nuclear DNA would give rise to tumour clones capable of growing and metastasizing at any time. Recently, the Cohnheim–Durante Theory has been revived in the light of the revaluation of stem cells.[4]
He left the Institute of Pathological Anatomy of Berlin, taking advantage of the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, in which he participated as head of the German Red Cross. On that occasion a Prussian frontline soldier had an impressive haemorrhage from the rupture of the subclavian vein. Taking the patient to the rear would have been too risky and valuable time would have been wasted. Durante decides to run to the front in no man's land with the risk of being hit by the opposing fire, he manages to block the bleeding and attach the stumps of the interrupted vase. For this gesture, when the Prussian ambassador reaches Paris, he seeks Durante, to award him an honour on behalf of the King of Prussia, but does not find him. Through diplomatic channels, his father Domenico is reached who, unaware of what happened, tracks down his son asking:
"Francesco, what have you done?" And he proudly replied, "Dad nothing you should be ashamed of."[5]
He later attended surgery classes held in London by W. Ferguson and T. Spencer, but this stay lasts little and he observes that the sterilization of the surgical instruments takes place by boiling or by the use of dry stoves.[6] His European experience, throughout various prestigious research institutes and clinics certainly contributed to the completion Durante's medical training.
Scientific career in Rome
[edit]Between 1872 and 1873 we find him in Rome, where he dedicated himself with great impetus to basic scientific research at professor Todaro's histology laboratory. It is a period of intense work that sees him engaged in completing some research started abroad and published the first two years in German and the third in French, "On the Organisation of the Thrombin in the Walls of the Vessels". It was not until 1887 at the International Congress in Washington that Durante presented two scientific contributions in English: the first on the "Creation of an Artificial Year as a Preliminary Treatment of Rectal-Colic Disease" and a second on the "Technique for Removal of Endocranial Tumors". The remaining research is published in Italian, as well as almost all of his subsequent scientific production, which has more than 100 works. His scientific publications cover different fields of medicine and are produced over a period of more than forty years, from 1870 to 1919.[7]
In 1873 Costanzo Mazzone, called him as an assistant to the chair of surgical clinic of the University of Rome, teaching surgical anatomy, which he carries out with great passion in the old headquarters of the San Giacomo degli Incurabili hospital between Via di Ripetta and Via del Corso near the Mausoleum of Augustus. That was the first university chair, which he obtained together with the benevolence of his students.[8] In 1874 he participated in a competition for a place of Ordinary Professor of Pathological Anatomy at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Catania, but he refused. This decision was influenced by the Roman scientific environment, which seemed to be more suitable for his interests. Considering the Unification of Italy, the University of Rome would soon become a prestigious international venue. In the academic year 1877-1878 he obtained the chair of surgical pathology and then in 1881 the role of ordinary professor of the same discipline. In 1885, after the death of his master Costanzo Mazzone, he obtained the direction of the surgical clinic in Rome.[9] Durante became Senator of the Kingdom of Italy in the 16th Legislature. He was one of the first surgeons in Italy and in the world to successfully remove brain tumours. During the First World War, he gave his all and besides avoided the mutilation of thousands of soldiers. In 1908 he moved to Messina, with a load of medical materials and with a group of volunteers and developed surgical pavilions. He followed Hippocrates' doctrine and became president of the Order of Surgeons in Italy. In 1919 he decided to leave Rome and to return definitively to Sicily. He retired to private life in his home in Letojanni where he died on 2 October 1934.
Surgery of interest
[edit]Even though his personal predisposition to the oncologic surgery, he was interested in the treatment of otorhinolaryngologic tumours, especially in those of larynx, oral cavity and tongue.[10] This is due to the fact that at the time, ORL specialisation didn’t exist as a subject in the university. Only in 1890, thanks to Baccelli’s contribute, Durante decided to use some rooms of Policlinico Umberto I in order to focus better on the study of ORL. On 19 April 1883, he performed the first laryngectomy in Italy, which wasn’t successfully. He then decided to improve the procedure of the time with his new techniques, which will result efficaciously. Durante cared about the individuality of patients, believing that adapting every surgery to the diversity of the single one was the right thing to do. Since he was the only clinic surgeon in Rome, Francesco Durante decided to intensify his professional activity by reaching the aristocratic, political and royal environments. He became the personal doctor of King Umberto I and, subsequently, of the whole Savoia family.[11]
Private life
[edit]In 1876 he married Amalia Cocchi, from whom he had four daughters and one son. The marriage will last for twenty-five years. Despite the era, the wife was constantly involved in Durante's activities to the point that they were considered one of the most tight-knit couples.[12]
Designation of Senator for Life
[edit]Durante was nominated Senator for Life on 26 January 1889 at the age of forty-four for his scientific achievements in the presence of King Umberto I di Savoia. He used this opportunity to create a network of influential people around him, crucial for his future battles for reforms in academic and clinical activities with the aim to make Rome the Capital of the kingdom. He focused on two important issues: insufficient space and inadequate salaries for professors.[13]
Policlinico Umberto I
[edit]Another important battle Durante fought side by side with Guido Baccelli was the construction of a new hospital in Rome, that will later be called “Policlinico Umberto I” in the name of the king who granted the 10.000.000 Lire necessary for the construction, which started on 19 January 1888. Durante will continue to fight for better hygiene and overall conditions in the hospital environment, applying the knowledge he gathered during his years abroad. The construction of the Policlinico Umberto I was finished in 1902; it comprised forty-nine buildings connected to each other via tunnels that allowed for the separation of the patients according to their disease in order to prevent their spread inside the hospital.[14]
Honors
[edit]- Cavaliere di Gran Croce decorato di Gran Cordone dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia
- Cavaliere dell'Ordine Civile di Savoia
- Cavaliere dell'Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro
Works
[edit]- Estirpazione di un tumore endocranico (forma morbosa prima e dopo l'operazione), in Bull. d. R. Acc. med. di Roma, XI, 1885, pp. 247-252
- Indirizzo alla diagnosi chirurgica dei tumori, 1879
- Trattato di patologia e terapia chirurgica generale e speciale (3 vol.), Dante Alighieri, Roma, 1895
- Nesso fisio-patologico tra la struttura dei nei materni e la genesi di alcuni tumori maligni, in Arch. di chir. prat., 1874
References
[edit]- ^ Garrozzo, Aldo. Francesco Durante. Ursini edizioni. pp. 15–18.
- ^ Garrozzo, Aldo. Francesco Durante. Ursini edizioni. p. 20.
- ^ Garrozo, Aldo. Francesco Durante. Ursini edizioni. p. 22.
- ^ Garrozzo, Aldo. Francesco Durante. 23.
- ^ Garrozzo, Aldo (2013). Francesco Durante. Ursini Edizioni. p. 23.
- ^ Garrozzo, Aldo. Francesco Durante. Ursini edizioni. p. 24.
- ^ Garrozzo, Aldo. Francesco Durante. Ursini edizioni. p. 25.
- ^ Garrozzo, Aldo. Francesco Durante. Ursini edizioni. p. 34.
- ^ Garrozzo, Aldo. Francesco Durante. Ursini edizioni. p. 36.
- ^ Garrozzo, Aldo. Francesco Durante. Ursini edizioni. p. 43.
- ^ Garrozzo, Aldo. Francesco Durante. Ursini edizioni. p. 49.
- ^ Garrozzo, Aldo. Francesco Durante. Ursini edizioni. p. 42.
- ^ Garrozzo, Aldo. Francesco Durante. Ursini edizioni. p. 51.
- ^ Garrozzo, Aldo. Francesco Durante. Ursini edizioni. pp. 71–85.
Bibliography
[edit]- Enzo Bruzzi, Francesco Durante, siciliano immortale precursore della clinica chirurgica moderna, Messina 1984.
- Aldo Garrozzo, Francesco Durante, Ottobre 2013.
- Giuseppe Arnocida, "Francesco Durante" in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 42 (1993) su treccani.it
