Adelchi Negri (16 July 1876 – 19 February 1912) was an Italian

pathologist Pathology is the study of the 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 used in t ...

and microbiologist born in

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

. He studied medicine and surgery at the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

, where he was a pupil of Camillo Golgi (1843–1926). After graduation in 1900, he became an assistant to Golgi at his pathological institute. In 1909 Negri became a professor of

bacteriology Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classificat ...

, and the first official instructor of bacteriology in

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...

. On 19 February 1912 he died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

at age 35. Negri performed extensive research in the fields of

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vi ...

, hematology,

cytology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

protozoology Protozoology is the study of protozoa, the "animal-like" (i.e., motile and heterotrophic) protists. The Protozoa are considered to be a subkingdom of Protista. They are free-living organisms that are found in almost every habitat. All humans have pr ...

and

hygiene Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

. In 1903 he discovered the eponymous

Negri bodies Negri bodies are eosinophilic, sharply outlined, pathognomonic inclusion bodies (2–10 μm in diameter) found in the cytoplasm of certain nerve cells containing the virus of rabies, especially in pyramidal cells within Ammon's horn of t ...

, defined as

cytoplasm In cell biology, the cytoplasm is all of the material within a eukaryotic cell, enclosed by the cell membrane, except for the cell nucleus. The material inside the nucleus and contained within the nuclear membrane is termed the nucleoplasm. ...

atic inclusion bodies located in the

Purkinje cells Purkinje cells, or Purkinje neurons, are a class of GABAergic inhibitory neurons located in the cerebellum. They are named after their discoverer, Czech anatomist Jan Evangelista Purkyně, who characterized the cells in 1839. Structure T ...

of the cerebellum in cases of

rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, ...

in animals and humans. He documented his findings in an article titled ''Contributo allo studio dell'eziologia della rabbia'', published in the journal ''Bollettino della Società medico-chirurgica''. At the time, Negri mistakenly described the pathological agent of rabies as a

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 ha ...

protozoa. A few months later, Paul Remlinger (1871–1964) at the Constantinople Imperial Bacteriology Institute correctly demonstrated that the aetiological agent of rabies was not a protozoan, but a filterable

virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsk ...

. Negri went on, however, to demonstrate in 1906 that the

smallpox vaccine The smallpox vaccine is the first vaccine to be developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, British physician Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus conferred immunity against the deadly smallpox ...

, then known as "vaccine virus", or "variola vaccinae", was also a filterable virus.A. Negri, 'Ueber Filtration des Vaccinevirus', Z. Hyg. InfektKrankh., 1906, 54: 327-346, see pp. 332-333. During the latter part of his career, he became interested in

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

and was at the forefront in efforts to eradicate it from Lombardy. In 1906 he married his colleague Lina Luzzani and six years later, at the age of thirty-five, died of tuberculosis.

Tomb

Negri was buried in the Monumental Cemetery of Pavia (Viale San Giovannino), along the central lane, on the left, near the tombs of other two important medical scientists, the anatomist Bartolomeo Panizza and his teacher, the Nobel Prize–winning Camillo Golgi.

References

Who Named It?, Adelchi Negri

Some places and memories related to Adelchi Negri
Italian microbiologists Italian pathologists University of Pavia alumni 1876 births 1912 deaths People from Perugia {{microbiology-stub