Giuseppe Albini was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

and physician, 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 27 September 1827. He died in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

on 18 January 1911..

Biography

In 1845, he began his medical studies in

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

, where he attended

Bartolomeo Panizza Bartolomeo Panizza (August 17, 1785 – April 17, 1867) was an Italian anatomist born in Vicenza. He received a medical degree in surgery from Padua, and furthered his studies at Bologna and Pavia. In 1809 he became a professor at the University ...

's anatomy courses. Expelled from Pavia for having taken part in the Springtime of the Peoples of 1848, he took part in the

Five Days of Milan The Five Days of Milan ( ) was an insurrection and a major event in the Revolutions of 1848, Revolutionary Year of 1848 that started the First Italian War of Independence. On 18 March, a rebellion arose in the city of Milan which in five day ...

and the battle of Novara. Following these events, he went to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he completed his medical studies and graduated in 1852. He became the student and then assistant of

Ernst Wilhelm von Brücke Ernst Wilhelm von Brücke (; 6 July 1819 – 7 January 1892) was a German physician and physiologist. He worked on the nature of cells, physiology of language, the effect of electricity on muscles, and studies of albumin. He also made significa ...

, professor of physiology at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. He then left for

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he followed the lectures of Brücke's friend,

Emil du Bois-Reymond Emil Heinrich du Bois-Reymond (7 November 1818 – 26 December 1896) was a German physiologist, the co-discoverer of nerve action potential, and the developer of experimental electrophysiology. His lectures on science and culture earned him grea ...

, and

Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (19 April 1795 – 27 June 1876) was a German Natural history, naturalist, zoologist, Botany, botanist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopy, microscopist. He is considered to be one of the most famous an ...

. Thereafter went to

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, Halle, and

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

. In October 1857, he was named professor of physiology at the

University of Krakow The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the wor ...

. In 1859,

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

was liberated from the Austrians following the

Armistice of Villafranca The Armistice of Villafranca, concluded by Napoleon III of France and Franz Joseph I of Austria on July 11, 1859, set the stage for the end of the Second Italian War of Independence. It was the consequence of a unilateral decision by Second Fren ...

: Giuseppe Albini, despite his important position at the University of Krakow, resigned and returned to Italy to work as a natural history teacher at the secondary school of

Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato () is a town in the Piedmont region of Northwest Italy, northwestern Italy, in the province of Alessandria. It is situated about east of Turin on the right bank of the Po River, Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montfe ...

. In January 1860, he was appointed professor of physiology in Parma and in October of the same year, at the suggestion of , he was hired by the University of Naples, where in February 1861 he became director of the Institute of Physiology, a position he held until 1905. On 27 October 1877 he was elected foreign honorary member of the

Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium (, ), founded on 19 September 1841 by royal decree of King Leopold I, is an academy that brings together Belgian scientists. It is headquartered in Brussels at the Palace of Academies. History The Roya ...

. He died in Turin on 18 January 1911 and was buried in the chapel of , near

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

Works

Giuseppe Albini was particularly interested in optics and chemistry and published articles on glandular secretions, embryology, and nerve physiology. He described small fibrous nodules on the margins of the mitral and tricuspid valves of the heart, residues of fetal tissue, which now bear his name: Albini's nodules.

Works (selection)

''Ricerche sul veleno della salamandra maculata''
(1854)
''Lezioni di embriologia''
(1867)
''Trattato delle funzioni riproduttive e d'embriologia''
(1868)
''Sull'istruzione superiore e sull'ordinamento degli studj di medicina e di chirurgia''
third edition (1882)

Translations

* G. Hermann Meyer
''Trattato di anatomia fisiologica umana''
(1867)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albini, Giuseppe 19th-century Italian physicians 20th-century Italian physicians 1827 births 1911 deaths Italian physiologists