Francesco Rizzoli
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Francesco Rizzoli (11 July 1809 – 24 May 1880) was an Italian politician, surgeon and physician, considered one of the fathers of modern
orthopedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (American and British English spelling differences, alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgic ...
. Doctor Joseph Ruggi speaks of him in his 1924 memoirs: "During the intervention he was in such a state that he was screaming like a madman, sustaining and railing against his assistants who were confused and upset ..while the patient, who was awake, shouted from his lungs, unheeded, throwing insults at the surgeon and his assistants."


Biography


Early years

Francesco Rizzoli was born in
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
on 11 July 1809, son of Gaetano Maria Rizzoli and Trovamola. His father was a lieutenant in the army of Napoleon and Murat, and was killed in 1814 by brigands in
Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...
when his son was only five years old. The orphaned Francesco was entrusted to his paternal uncle Vincenzo, who lived in Bologna with his sister Teresa. Francesco Rizzoli spent his youth in
Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
, where he attended school. He lived in a sober and simple manner, and despite his modest economic conditions was able to obtain a degree in medicine in 1828 and a master's degree in surgery from the
University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...
, then under the rule of the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
.


Academic and medical careers

Following an intense and productive postgraduate training he obtained a position of assistant to Paolo Baroni, Rizzoli's brother in law, who was a professor at the University and director of the hospital of the ''Abbandonati''. When Baroni became chief physician of
Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI (; ; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...
in Rome, in 1842 Rizzoli was appointed chief surgeon of the hospital. From 1838 to 1849 he was substitute professor of obstetrics, when he was awarded the chair of clinical surgery that he held until 1865. In the following years he visited the surgical institute of Joseph-François Malgaigne in Paris. On his return he repeatedly demanded improved sanitation and teaching conditions at the hospital, so differences arose between him and the ministry, and the professor was dismissed. In private practice, Rizzoli dedicated his activities to the Maggiore Hospital, where he also treated private clients. In 1868 he was again entrusted the Chair of Surgery, and in 1876 he was asked to succeed Luigi Porta as a professor of clinical surgery at the
University of Pavia The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...
. During the cholera epidemic he ran the military hospital of ''Ricovero'' and also oversaw the ''San Lodovico'' hospital. For his work during the outbreak he received the diploma of admission to the nobility of Bologna.


Political career

Professionally, the illustrious doctor was highly respected and appreciated not only locally, and he served in various political positions at the national level. He was an ardent patriot and served as a surgeon during the wars of independence. In 1859 he was appointed a deputy of the National Assembly for the people of
Romagna Romagna () is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy. Etymology The name ''Romagna'' originates from the Latin name ''Romania'', which originally ...
, and voted for the removal of the papal government. From 12 February 1862 until his death he was a member of the provincial council of Bologna. He was called by the Prime Minister
Urbano Rattazzi Urbano Pio Francesco Rattazzi (; 29 June 1808 5 June 1873) was an Italian politician and statesman. Personal life He was born in Alessandria, Piedmont. He studied law at Turin, and in 1838 began his practice, which met with marked success at t ...
, along with Luigi Porta, to examine
Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...
after the injury he suffered in
Aspromonte The Aspromonte is a mountain massif in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria (Calabria, southern Italy). In Italian aspro means "rough" whereas in Greek it means "white" (wikt:άσπρος, Άσπρος), therefore the name literally translat ...
. He managed to avoid the need for amputation by diagnosing that the bullet had bounced and they had to just wait for the wound to heal. In 1879, a year before his death, he was appointed by King as Senator of the XIII legislature. He died in Bologna on February 24, 1880. His body was embalmed with arsenic injection by Professor Romei.


Lifetime vision

Rizzoli had no family of his own, and donated his wealth (approximately £1,754,894) to the provincial administration of Bologna for the realization of his dream: to build not only a large, clean and modern hospital for the prevention and treatment of deformities of the body, but a hospital where it would be possible to implement the surgical treatment of
rickets Rickets, scientific nomenclature: rachitis (from Greek , meaning 'in or of the spine'), is a condition that results in weak or soft bones in children and may have either dietary deficiency or genetic causes. Symptoms include bowed legs, stun ...
and birth defects, a hospital where everything he had seen during his travels abroad could be applied, a hospital where the first results of the studies of
Joseph Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 1827 – 10 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and pioneer of aseptic, antiseptic surgery and preventive healthcare. Joseph Lister revolutionised the Sur ...
could be exploited. With this hospital Rizzoli wanted to achieve both the advancement of science and the relief of suffering humanity. In 1879 the professor Rizzoli bought for £55,000 the Olivetani convent, a structure adjacent to the church of San Michele in Bosco, from the State. The large complex had been expropriated during the Napoleonic era and later used as a "house of strength" for those sentenced to life imprisonment. The project was realized after his death by the provincial administration. The institute was inaugurated by the King
Umberto I of Italy Umberto I (; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900) was King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination in 1900. His reign saw Italy's expansion into the Horn of Africa, as well as the creation of the Triple Alliance (1882), Triple Alliance a ...
on 28 June 1896 as the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, and for in the next century was one of the best orthopedic hospitals in the world.


Character

Rizzoli had a severe personality, solitary and commanding, disciplined and made stronger by his difficult youth and by the poor health that surrounded him in his work. He was considered a miser. After his death envelopes were found that contained money earned for his services that were still sealed. At the same time, however, he was a very generous person, attentive to the needs of his patients and his assistants. He was visionary in predicting the separation in a short time of surgery of the skeletal system from general surgery. He became a dominant figure in the medical circles of Bologna, holding the prestigious positions of president of the local Academy of Science and, for twenty years from 1854 to 1876, president of the society of medical surgery. He was famous for the great speed of his operations, which was of the utmost importance at a time when surgery was still in its early development, a period in which anesthesia (he was among the first to use chloroform in November 1847) and sterility were in their infancy. He was also the author of studies on thyroid surgery and diseases of the arteries.


Trivia

Rizzoli wrote many scientific papers, some of which were collected in two volumes, printed in 1869, and translated into French, which appeared in two editions of 1872 and 1875. Many of his treasures are preserved in the "Rizzoli Museum", including the bone-breaking instrument that Rizzoli used to shorten limbs or rebalance them with shorter ones. In memory of the day of his birth, Gino Rocchi posted a beautiful mural inscription at the Rizzoli Orthopedic Hospital. Rizzoli invented and perfected several medical tools: *He devised a hooked forceps, built by Fratelli Lollini. The technique of applying the forceps involved insertion into the uterus of the left valve, then into the right and their subsequent joining at the level of the closure. *He designed a kind of headphone earmuffs, which was worn by the doctor who still preferred to operate guided by the cries of the sick, but preferably slightly muffled cries. They are kept in the third room of the Umberto I library.


Memorials

One of the central streets of Bologna, a portion of the
Via Aemilia The Via Aemilia (, ) was a trunk Roman road in the north Italian plain, running from ''Ariminum'' (Rimini), on the Adriatic coast, to ''Placentia'' (Piacenza) on the River ''Padus'' ( Po). It was completed in 187 BC. The Via Aemilia connected a ...
from
Piazza Maggiore Piazza Maggiore (''Piâza Mażåur'' in the Bolognese dialect, Bolognese language) is a central square in Bologna, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, largely preserving its 15th century layout. The Northwest corner opens into Piazza del Nettuno wit ...
to the Two Towers is named Via Francesco Rizzoli. The Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute (Bologna) carries his name.


Honors

*Knight of the Grand Cross decorated with the Gran Cordone dell' Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro *Knight of the Grand Cross decorated with the Gran Cordone dell' Ordine della Corona d'Italia *Official of the Orders of Saints Maurice and Lazarus *Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy


Publications

* 1858: Operazioni chirurgiche eseguite in diversi casi onde togliere la immobilità della mascella inferiore (surgical operations carried out in different cases so as to remove the immobility of the lower jaw) (20 pagine) * 1860: Nuovo metodo per la cura di alcune varietà d' ernia inguinale congenita associate alla presenza del testicolo nel canale inguinale (letta nella sessione del 15 novembre) (A new method for the treatment of certain varieties of 'congenital inguinal hernia associated with the presence of the testis in the inguinal canal (read at the meeting of 15 November)) * 1863: Aneurismi inguinali e di uno popliteo ottenuto mediante un semplicissimo mezzo di compressione (letta nella sessione del 12 novembre dell'Accademia delle Scienze) * 1867: Terebrazione del cranio in un epiletico (24 pagine) * 1869: Collezione delle memorie chirurgiche ed ostetriche (577 pagine) * 1875: Della onichia ulcerosa lurida e della maligna (42 pagine) * 1878: Emostasia diretta nella cura di aneurismi traumatici e di ricorrenti emorragie per ferite od ulcerazioni di arterie degli arti toracici (41 pagine) * 1880: Studi istofisio-anatomopatologici e clinici sull'ano preternaturale accidentale (37 pagine)


Notes


References


Sources

* * * *


Further reading

* P. Perrini, T. Nannini, N. Di Lorenzo, "Francesco Rizzoli (1809-1880) and the elusive case of Giulia: the description of an "arteriovenous aneurysm passing through the wall of the skull". Acta Neurochir (Wien) 2007, 149:191-196.


External links


Scheda sul sito del Senato

Scheda sul sito dell'Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli



Cuffie paraorecchie



Via Francesco Rizzoli

Al capezzale di Garibaldi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rizzoli, Francesco 1809 births 1880 deaths Italian orthopedic surgeons Politicians from Milan Physicians from Milan