Aldo Castellani,

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

(8 September 1874 – 3 October 1971) was an Italian

pathologist Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when us ...

and

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology -- a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically Pathogenic bacteria, pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learnin ...

Life and achievements

Castellani was born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

and educated there, qualifying in medicine in 1899. He worked for a time in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

and joined the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London in 1901. As bacteriologist with the Royal Society Commission on Sleeping Sickness in 1902, he went to

Entebbe Entebbe is a city in Central Uganda. Located on a Lake Victoria peninsula, approximately southwest of the Ugandan capital city, Kampala. Entebbe was once the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda prior to independence, in 1962. The c ...

, Uganda with

George Carmichael Low George Carmichael Low (14 October 1872 – 31 July 1952) was a Scottish parasitologist. Biography He was born in Monifieth, Forfarshire, Scotland, the son of Samuel Miller Low, a manufacturer of flax machinery and educated at Madras College ...

and

Cuthbert Christy Cuthbert Christy (1863 – 29 May 1932) was an English doctor and zoologist who undertook extensive explorations of Central Africa during the first part of the 20th century. He was known for his work on sleeping sickness, and for the Christy Repo ...

. He demonstrated the cause and means of transmission of sleeping sickness, discovered the

spirochete A spirochaete () or spirochete is a member of the phylum Spirochaetota (), (synonym Spirochaetes) which contains distinctive diderm (double-membrane) gram-negative bacteria, most of which have long, helically coiled (corkscrew-shaped or s ...

yaws Yaws is a tropical infection of the skin, bones, and joints caused by the spirochete bacterium ''Treponema pallidum pertenue''. The disease begins with a round, hard swelling of the skin, in diameter. The center may break open and form an ulce ...

, and did other original work in bacteriology and in

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has c ...

diseases of the skin. In 1903 he was appointed Bacteriologist to the Government of

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

at the Central laboratory in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

and continued research in mycology and bacteriology, describing several new species of

intestinal The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans ...

bacilli Bacilli is a taxonomic class of bacteria that includes two orders, Bacillales and Lactobacillales, which contain several well-known pathogens such as ''Bacillus anthracis'' (the cause of anthrax). ''Bacilli'' are almost exclusively gram-positive ...

.Medical Research Institute, Sri Lanka
He invented the absorption test for the

serological Serology is the scientific study of serum and other body fluids. In practice, the term usually refers to the diagnostic identification of antibodies in the serum. Such antibodies are typically formed in response to an infection (against a given mi ...

identification of closely allied organisms. He left Ceylon in 1915 for

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

where he took the Chair of Medicine. He was involved during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in Serbia and Macedonia as a member of the Inter-Allied Sanitary Commission. In 1919 Castellani went to London as Consultant to the

Ministry of Pensions Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

.CASTELLANI, Sir Aldo (1877–1971)
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine He became lecturer on

mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...

and

mycotic Fungal infection, also known as mycosis, is disease caused by fungi. Different types are traditionally divided according to the part of the body affected; superficial, subcutaneous, and systemic. Superficial fungal infections include common ti ...

diseases at the

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The inst ...

, and established a consulting practice in Harley Street. He was knighted in 1928 as an Honorary and in 1934 his daughter Jacqueline Castellani married Sir Miles Lampson. Castellani's enthusiasm for Royal and eminent patients such as

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

clouded his reputation and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he supported Italy against the Allies, becoming chief of the Italian Army's medical service. War correspondent

Alaric Jacob Harold Alaric Jacob (8 June 1909 – 26 January 1995) was an English writer and journalist. He was a Reuters correspondent in Washington in the 1930s and a war correspondent during World War II in North Africa, Burma and Moscow. Early life Alar ...

discovered his looted quarters in Cirene in December 1941 and was tempted to pass his correspondence to his son in law Sir Miles Lampson, then British Ambassador in Egypt. Castellani was President of the International Society of Dermatology from 1960 to 1964, which he had founded in 1959. He was also professor of tropical medicine at the State University of Louisiana and also at the Royal University of Rome. He followed the Queen of Italy Marie José into exile in Portugal and ended his life as Professor at

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

's Institute of Tropical Medicine. Castellani died in 1971. Castellani's paint (

Carbol fuchsin Carbol fuchsin, carbol-fuchsin, carbolfuchsin, or Castellani's paint ( CAS ) is a mixture of phenol and basic fuchsin that is used in bacterial staining procedures. It is commonly used in the staining of mycobacteria because it has an affinity for ...

solution) is still occasionally used to treat fungal skin infections.Martindale, William; Blacow, Norman W. and Wade, Ainley (1972) ''The extra pharmacopoeia: incorporating Squire's "Companion."'' Pharmaceutical Press. . p. 198 The human pathogen

Acanthamoeba ''Acanthamoeba'' is a genus of amoeboid, amoebae that are commonly recovered from soil, fresh water, and other habitat (ecology), habitats. ''Acanthamoeba'' has two evolutive forms, the metabolically active trophozoite and a dormant, stress-resi ...

castellanii is named after him.

Literary works

* ''Manual of tropical medicine'', 1910 (with

Albert John Chalmers Albert John Chalmers (28 March 1870 - 5 April 1920) was a British colonial physician who was a research pioneer in tropical medicine. Biography Albert John Chalmers was born in Manchester on 28 March 1870. He received his qualifications in 189 ...

) * ''Fungi and fungous diseases'', 1928 * ''Climate and acclimatisation'', 1938 * ''Manuale di clinica tropicale'', (with Jacono) * ''Microbes, Men and Monarchs: A Doctor's Life in Many Lands: The Autobiography of Aldo Castellani'' Victor Gollancz LTD (1963)

References

External links

Biography
on Whonamedit
National Portrait Gallery collection

Some places and memories related to Aldo Castellani on Himetop – The History of Medicine Topographical Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castellani, Aldo 1874 births 1971 deaths Italian exiles Italian monarchists Italian pathologists Italian bacteriologists Italian expatriates in Portugal Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Physicians from Florence