Ivano Bertini (December 6, 1940 – July 7, 2012) was an Italian chemist recognized for his significant contributions in the field of
bioinorganic chemistry
Bioinorganic chemistry is a field that examines the role of metals in biology. Bioinorganic chemistry includes the study of both natural phenomena such as the behavior of metalloproteins as well as artificially introduced metals, including those t ...
, particularly in
NMR spectroscopy
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a spectroscopic technique based on re-orientation of atomic nuclei with non-zero nuclear spins in an external magnetic f ...
of
metalloprotein
Metalloprotein is a generic term for a protein that contains a metal ion cofactor. A large proportion of all proteins are part of this category. For instance, at least 1000 human proteins (out of ~20,000) contain zinc-binding protein domains al ...
s.
[
]
Early life and education
Bertini was born in Pisa
Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...
, Italy, in 1940. He completed his graduation in 1964 at the University of Florence
The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'') (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled.
History
The f ...
in inorganic chemistry
Inorganic chemistry deals with chemical synthesis, synthesis and behavior of inorganic compound, inorganic and organometallic chemistry, organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subj ...
, under the guidance of Luigi Sacconi. After graduation, he became Sacconi's assistant and started his research in inorganic physical chemistry and isomerism in coordination compounds. He had his first trips abroad to the Zurich Polytechnic
ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...
in 1965[ and ]Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
, where he began his studies of bioinorganic chemistry using NMR.
Career
In 1975, Bertini became a full professor of chemistry[ at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Florence, and in 1981, at the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences. He founded the European Magnetic Resonance Center ( CERM),][ based at the Scientific Campus of Sesto Fiorentino, in 1999.][
His research on the structure of metalloproteins resulted in a significant number of publications, earning him international recognition. He received honorary degrees in chemistry from the Universities of Stockholm (1998) and Ioannina (2002), and in biology from the University of Siena (2003).][ In addition to other international awards, he was a member of the ]Academia Europaea
The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences.
The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...
and the National Lincei Academy.
He also served on the editorial or advisory boards of over 20 journals spanning chemistry, biochemistry, and inorganic chemistry.
Death and legacy
Bertini passed away in 2012 in Florence.
He authored over 650 research papers and published over 150 protein structure
Protein structure is the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in an amino acid-chain molecule. Proteins are polymers specifically polypeptides formed from sequences of amino acids, which are the monomers of the polymer. A single amino acid ...
s.[
]
Works
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References
External links
Obituary in ChemViews
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20th-century Italian chemists
University of Florence alumni
Academic staff of the University of Florence
Bioinorganic chemists
Members of the Lincean Academy
Members of Academia Europaea
People from Pisa
1940 births
2012 deaths
Bijvoet Medal recipients
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