Fernando Aiuti (8 June 1935 – 9 January 2019) was an Italian immunologist and politician. He was the founder and first President of ANLAIDS Association.

Early life and education

Born in Urbino in 1935, he graduated with a degree in medicine from

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

Career

In 1991, during a congress at the ''Fair in

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

'', the possibility of AIDS being transmitted orally was being discussed. Aiuti suddenly took Rosaria Iardino, an HIV-positive woman, and kissed her on the mouth, trying to convince

public opinion Public opinion, or popular opinion, is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. In the 21st century, public opinion is widely thought to be heavily ...

that the virus could not be transmitted orally. A journalist photographed the scene and this photo became internationally famous. Aiuti was head of

The People of Freedom The People of Freedom (, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL launched by Silvio Berlusconi as an electoral list, including and National Alliance, on 27 February for the 2008 Italian general election. The list was later t ...

list in 2008, and was elected to the municipal council of Rome for The People of Freedom with the mayor

Gianni Alemanno Giovanni "Gianni" Alemanno (born 3 March 1958) is an Italian politician who from April 2008 until June 2013 was mayor of Rome for The People of Freedom. He was the secretary of the National Movement for Sovereignty from 2017 to 2019. Career At ...

, until 2013. He was appointed chief within the health policies commission of the Roma municipality (2008–2013), where he spoke out against the closing of the public hospital

San Giacomo degli Incurabili The hospital of ''San Giacomo in Augusta'' (Saint James in Augusta), also known as San Giacomo degli Incurabili (Saint James of the Incurables) was a historic hospital located in Rome. History The Hospital was built for the first time in 1349 b ...

. He was full professor at Sapienza University and, in 2010, he was there appointed

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

. Aiuti died on 9 January 2019 due to an accidental fall at the Gemelli Polyclinic, where he was hospitalized for an

ischemic heart disease Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), or ischemic heart disease (IHD), is a type of heart disease involving the reduction of blood flow to the cardiac muscle due to a build-up of atheromatous plaque in the ...

Documentaires

* 2010: ''"+ o – il sesso confuso. Racconti di mondi nell'era AIDS"'', direct. Andrea Adriatico and Giulio Maria Corbelli+ o – Il Sesso Confuso. Racconti di Mondi nell'era Aids
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aiuti, Fernando Italian immunologists 1935 births 2019 deaths Sapienza University of Rome alumni People from Urbino Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Italy