Maurizio Montalbini (4 September 1953 – 19 September 2009) was an Italian sociologist and caver who had lived in complete isolation in an underground chamber multiple times since 1986.

Early life, family and education

Montalbini was born at

Senigallia Senigallia (or Sinigaglia in Old Italian; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and port town on Italy's Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coast. It is situated in the province of Ancona, in the Italian region of Marche, and lies approximately 30 kilometres nor ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, from

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

Career

Although primarily known for his cave experiments, Montalbini's work in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

involved working with drug addicts. He later treated

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...

tic patients with Under-Therapy, a method he developed.

Cave dwelling

On December 14, 1986, he entered the

Frasassi Caves The Frasassi Caves (Italian language, Italian: ''Grotte di Frasassi'') are a Karst topography, karst cave system in the municipality of Genga, Italy, in the province of Ancona, Marche. They are among the most famous show caves in Italy. History ...

of the

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

, near Ancona. A video feed was set up to monitor him from the surface. He emerged on July 12, 1987, breaking the world record for complete isolation. An Ancona interior designer Stefania Follini heard of his exploits and decided to attempt it herself;

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

sponsored her stay in a cave in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. Both Follini and Montalbini found that time passed quickly underground. Montalbini also worked with "NASA and top universities." Montalbini entered the cave ''Grotte di Nerone'' ("

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

's Caves") in

Pesaro Pesaro (; ) is a (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, capital of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the ...

on December 5, 1992. When he exited his base (which he dubbed an Underlab) in December 6, 1993, he stated he thought the date was June 6, 1993. It was his longest stay underground at 366 days. In October 2006, Montalbini entered ''Grotta Fredda'' ("Cold Cave") in the Apennines, where he built his Underlab base. He expressed an intention to spend three years there. He planned for it to be his final experiment and hoped it would provide valuable insight into the natural cycles of the body. However, he emerged in 2007 after 235 days. Montalbini ate high protein powdered foods and pills for meals while in caves, but also brought along honey, nuts and chocolate on his most recent trip. He was also a heavy cigarette smoker at two packs a day. Many years later in 2023, the duration record was broken by a Spanish woman, athlete Beatriz Flamini, who remained in a cave for 500 days and also felt a distorted sense of time.

Personal life and demise

He was married. He and his wife had no children. Montalbini died at age 56 in September 2009 from a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at Pieve Torina near

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza (ri ...

. Officially, his death was not connected to his experimental cave dwellings.

References

External links