Angelo Celli (25 March 1857 – 2 November 1914) was an Italian

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, hygienist,

parasitologist Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

known for his pioneering work on the

malarial parasite ''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a verteb ...

and control of

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. ...

. He was Professor of Hygiene at the

University of Palermo The University of Palermo ( it, Università degli Studi di Palermo) is a university located in Palermo, Italy, and founded in 1806. It is organized in 12 Faculties. History The University of Palermo was officially founded in 1806, although its ...

, and then at the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

. He founded the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vacc ...

of Italy. With his wife Anna Fraentzel he established a number of medical schools in the

Roman Campagna The Roman Campagna () is a low-lying area surrounding Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy, with an area of approximately . It is bordered by the Tolfa and Sabatini mountains to the north, the Alban Hills to the southeast, and the Tyrrh ...

and dispensaries in Rome. He and

Ettore Marchiafava Ettore Marchiafava (3 January 1847 – 22 October 1935) was an Italian physician, pathologist and neurologist. He spent most of his career as professor of medicine at the University of Rome (now Sapienza Università di Roma). His works on malar ...

correctly described the protozoan parasite that caused malaria and gave it the scientific name ''

Plasmodium ''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a ve ...

'' in 1885. Understanding the nature of malaria, he was among the first scientists to advocate and work for eradication of insects to prevent

infectious diseases An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable di ...

. He was elected to the

Senate of the Kingdom of Italy The Senate of the Kingdom of Italy () was the upper house of the bicameral parliament of the Kingdom of Italy, officially created on 4 March 1848, acting as an evolution of the original Subalpine Senate. It was replaced on 1 January 1948 by the ...

in 1892.

Biography

Angelo Celli graduated in medicine in 1878 at the

. He joined the pathology department as assistant to Tommasi-Crudeli. In 1886, he was appointed Professor of Hygiene at the University of Palermo. He founded the Pasteur Institute at Palermo in 1887. He returned to the University of Rome in 1888 where he worked to his last day. Celli married a German nurse Anna Fraentzel (born 1878), who was known for her voluntary health service during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. They met in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

where Celli was on a professional visit. They got married in 1899 and worked together in Rome. Celli died in 1914, and his wife in 1958. They are both interred in the cemetery of Frascati.

Achievements

In 1880 with

Celli studied a new

protozoa Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histo ...

n discovered by

Alphonse Laveran Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran (18 June 1845 – 18 May 1922) was a French physician who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1907 for his discoveries of parasitic protozoans as causative agents of infectious diseases such as malaria ...

in the blood of malarial patients. Subsequently, it was shown to be the causative agent of malaria. He studied the biology and pathogenesis of the malarial plasmodium for years after this, working with Ettore Marchiafava,

Amico Bignami Amico Bignami (15 April 1862 – 8 September 1929) was an Italian physician, pathologist, malariologist and sceptic. He was professor of pathology at Sapienza University of Rome. His most important scientific contribution was in the discovery of ...

Giovanni Battista Grassi Giovanni Battista Grassi (27 March 1854 – 4 May 1925) was an Italian physician and zoologist, best known for his pioneering works on parasitology, especially on malariology. He was Professor of Comparative Zoology at the University of Catania ...

and

Giuseppe Bastianelli Giuseppe Bastianelli (25 October 1862 – 30 March 1959) was an Italian physician and zoologist who worked on malaria and was the personal physician of Pope Benedict XV. Born in Rome, Bastianelli was initially interested in chemistry, physiology ...

. They were the first to use proper staining (with

methylene blue Methylthioninium chloride, commonly called methylene blue, is a salt used as a dye and as a medication. Methylene blue is a thiazine dye. As a medication, it is mainly used to treat methemoglobinemia by converting the ferric iron in hemoglobin ...

) to identify malarial parasites as distinct blue-coloured particles in blood cells. They showed that the parasites lived inside the blood cell, and that they divide by simple splitting ( fission). They were the first to recognize several of the stages of development of the malarial parasite in human blood. They called the new microorganism ''

'' in 1885. Their works helped to differentiate different types of malaria as a result of infection with different species of ''Plasmodium''. Angelo Celli is famous in Rome (a

marble sculpture Marble has been the preferred material for stone monumental sculpture since ancient times, with several advantages over its more common geological "parent" limestone, in particular the ability to absorb light a small distance into the surface be ...

of him is in the "Biblioteca dell'Istituto d'Igiene “G. Santarelli” in the Città Universitaria near

Pincio The Pincian Hill (; it, Pincio ; la, Mons Pincius) is a hill in the northeast quadrant of the historical centre of Rome. The hill lies to the north of the Quirinal Hill, Quirinal, overlooking the Campus Martius. It was outside the original bo ...

) for his achievements as a hygienist, sociologist, and parliamentary deputy. After the formation of the Chinino di stato (a state organisation controlling prices of drugs, preventing sales of illegal or counterfeit drugs, and prosecuting speculators), he ensured that it applied to malaria medicines. The drugs were soon supplied free to the poor. At the time the

Pontine Marshes 250px, Lake Fogliano, a coastal lagoon in the Pontine Plain The Pontine Marshes (, also ; it, Agro Pontino , formerly also ''Paludi Pontine''; la, Pomptinus Ager by Titus Livius, ''Pomptina Palus'' (singular) and ''Pomptinae Paludes'' (plu ...

, the wetlands in

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

for instance

Maremma The Maremma (, ; from Latin , "maritime and) is a coastal area of western central Italy, bordering the Tyrrhenian Sea. It includes much of south-western Tuscany and part of northern Lazio. It was formerly mostly marshland, often malarial, bu ...

and

Basilicata it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

were malarial areas. Francisco Saverio Nitti asserted that Atella, as an example, remained deserted until the adoption of the laws passed by the Chinino di Stato. Since the populations were illiterate and had a

fatalistic Fatalism is a family of related philosophical doctrines that stress the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or destiny, and is commonly associated with the consequent attitude of resignation in the face of future events which are t ...

attitude to malaria, he organized “Le Scuole per i Contadini dell'Agro Romano e le Paludi Pontine,” in English, "Schools for the Peasants of Agro Romano (vast areas of land around Rome)and Paludi Pontine (Pontine Marshes)" to educate and inform them. This scheme was subsequently adopted by Argentina and Greece. Celli's scientific and social achievements led to his receiving the

Laurea Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad ho ...

from the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

and the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health in London. He was awarded the

Mary Kingsley Mary Henrietta Kingsley (13 October 1862 – 3 June 1900) was an English ethnographer, scientific writer, and explorer whose travels throughout West Africa and resulting work helped shape European perceptions of both African cultures and ...

medal by the

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) is a higher education institution with degree awarding powers and registered charity located in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Established in 1898, it was the first institution in the world dedicated ...

. Although the Celli archives are preserved at the Faculty of experimental medicine and pathology of the Sapienza University of Rome, some letters and documents attesting Celli's constant engagement in favour of public healthcare and his passion as scholar and teacher of hygiene are kept in the library of the

Museo Galileo Museo Galileo, the former ''Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza'' (Institute and Museum of the History of Science) is located in Florence, Italy, in Piazza dei Giudici, along the River Arno and close to the Uffizi Gallery. The museum, dedica ...

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 ...

Works

*''Le nostre sostanze alimentari considerate come terreno di coltura di germi patogeni'', Roma, 1888 *''Il primo anno di vita della stazione antirabbica di Palermo'', Roma, 1888 *'' Our food substances considered as a breeding ground for germs,'' Rome, 1888 *'' The first year of the life of the station rabies'' Palermo, Rome, 1888 *''La malaria dei bovini nella campagna romana'', Roma, 1897 nglish version: '' The malaria of cattle in the Roman countryside,'' Rome, 1897*''Stato palustre ed anofelico (paludismo) senza malaria'', Roma, 1902 *''L' opera del medico nella lotta contro la malaria'', Napoli, 1904 *''La malaria nella storia medievale di Roma'', Roma, 1923 nglish version: ''The history of malaria on the Roman Campagna from ancient times''. London, John Bale, Sons Danielsson (1933)

References

Additional sources

*Conci, C. (1975). Repertorio delle biografie e bibliografie degli scrittori e cultori italiani di entomologia. ''Mem. Soc. Ent. Ital.'' 48 1969(4) 817-1069. *Conci, C. & Poggi, R. (1996). Iconography of Italian Entomologists, with essential biographical data. ''Mem. Soc. Ent. Ital''. 75 159-382. *Howard, L. O. (1915). elli, A.''Pop. Sci. Monthly'' 87 72, Portrait. *Howard, L. O. (1930). ''History of applied Entomology (Somewhat Anecdotal)''.Smiths. Miscell. Coll. 84 X+1-564.

External links

Portrait
{{DEFAULTSORT:Celli, Angelo Italian zoologists Italian entomologists 1857 births 1914 deaths Italian pathologists Malariologists Sapienza University of Rome alumni Sapienza University of Rome faculty University of Palermo faculty Italian tropical physicians