Jewish Lives: Rita Levi-Montalcini.

Jewish Lives: Rita Levi-Montalcini. "HOW COULD YOU GO BACK TO A COUNTRY THAT persecuted you, thattook away your citizenship, your profession, where you had to liveunderground to survive?" She was watering her plants, dozens ofcoral and crimson plants, in the living-room of the apartment she shareswith her sister Paola. She put the watering-can on a table beside theblack corduroy corduroy,a cut filling-pile fabric with lengthwise ridges, or wales, that may vary from fine (pinwale) to wide. Extra filling yarns float over a number of warp yarns that form either a plain-weave or twill-weave ground. couch on which I was sitting. But she didn't answer.She only smiled a little as she went to the book-shelves in the hall,and returned with an armful of books that she placed next to thewatering-can. It took me a long time to find the answer to my question,a time I spent reading quantities of books and papers, interviewing hercolleagues, friends and relatives, going back and forth between theUnited States United States,officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and Italy. The answer has to do with the singular natureof Italian culture and Jewish assimilation This article's grammar usage needs improvement. Please edit this article in accordance with Wikipedia's . to this culture, as well asto the variable relationships between women and men in both Italy andthe United States. Rita Levi-Montalcini Rita Levi-Montalcini (born April 22, 1909) is an Italian neurologist who, together with colleague Stanley Cohen, received the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of growth factors. Today she is the oldest living Nobel laureate. was born in 1909, and has just turned 90. Hercarriage is erect, she is enviably slim, her hands don't tremble,she doesn't wear glasses. The wrinkles on her face she attributesto inordinate sunning at a much younger age. Her thick, gray hair isstyled smartly and simply, and so are her clothes. Her eyes aregreenish-gray, a light color unexpectedly frequent in dark-hairedItalians. In 1986, she and her American colleague, Stan Cohen cohenor kohen(Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. , receivedthe Nobel Prize Nobel Prize,award given for outstanding achievement in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, peace, or literature. The awards were established by the will of Alfred Nobel, who left a fund to provide annual prizes in the five areas listed above. in Medicine/Physiology for the discovery of the NerveGrowth Factor nerve growth factorn. Abbr. NGFA protein that stimulates the growth of sympathetic and sensory nerve cells.Nerve growth factor(NGF NGFabbr.nerve growth factorNGFnerve growth factor. ). I am looking at two pictures, juxtaposed jux��ta��pose?tr.v. jux��ta��posed, jux��ta��pos��ing, jux��ta��pos��esTo place side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. , that appeared in"F," the Saturday magazine supplement of the Corriere dellaSera Corriere della Sera ("Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper (first in sales [2]), published in Milan.It is the most famous Italian national newspaper, and among the oldest, founded on Sunday, March 5 1876 by Eugenio Torelli Viollier. , dated February 9, 1991, in a feature on famous Italian women,"As They Were ... and As They Are." One picture shows the Ritaof five years ago, her right hand supporting her face, her mouthslightly widened by the hint of a smile. The other picture is a copy ofa black-and-white photograph of a small, seated child, herdelicately-embroidered white dress contrasting with the dark haircurling around a face also supported by the right hand. There is no hintof a smile on her full mouth, her eyes are not joyful. Are they hurt,sad? Here is the Rita of eighty years ago, who avoided physical contactwith adults, especially her father. She would turn her face away when hebent to kiss her. Nor was he taken in by her excuse that his mustacheprickled. In his turn, he played only with Paola, creating a divisionbetween the twins in which Rita told Paola everything, and Paola toldRita nothing. The wounds that Rita and her father inflicted on eachother still festered at his death. According to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. her autobiography, In Praise of Imperfection im��per��fec��tion?n.1. The quality or condition of being imperfect.2. Something imperfect; a defect or flaw. See Synonyms at blemish.imperfectionNoun1. , herancestors were Sephardic on both sides and traced their Italian rootsback to the Roman Empire. [1] Considering that Italian Jews Italian Jews historically fall into four categories. The original Italian community that resided in central Italy since Roman times; see Ben�� Roma. Spanish and Portuguese Jews, i.e. lost theirrights as citizens in 1938, it is difficult to remember that at thattime Jews had been living in Italy for well over two millennia. Near theend of the nineteenth century the grandparents grandparentsnpl → abuelos mplgrandparentsgrand npl → grands-parents mplgrandparentsgrand npl moved from thesubstantial towns of Asti and Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato(käsä`lā mōnfār-rä`tō)or Casale,city (1991 pop. 38,962), Piedmont, NW Italy, on the Po River. in the Piedmont regionof northern Italy Northern Italy comprises of two areas belonging to NUTS level 1: North-West (Nord-Ovest): Aosta Valley, Piedmont, Lombardy, Liguria North-East (Nord-Est): Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige/S��dtirol, Emilia-Romagna , to Turin, the capitol, which had became a morehospitable city for Jews. Adele Montalcini met Adamo Levi in 1901; theymarried soon after, and had four children: Gino, Nina, Rita, and Paola. Levi is an ancient name. With his two wives, Leah and Rachel, andtwo concubines, Jacob had twelve sons, each son biblically viewed as thefounder of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, Levi being the third son.In the Revelation at Sinai the tribe of Levi, the Levites, received noland but were given a sacrosanct sac��ro��sanct?adj.Regarded as sacred and inviolable.[Latin sacrs function: they were made responsiblefor assisting the priests in the Temple rituals. The patronymic pat��ro��nym��ic?adj.Of, relating to, or derived from the name of one's father or a paternal ancestor.n.A name so derived.[Late Latin patr "Levi," borne by many illustrious men and women, is frequentlyencountered in Jewish-Italian history. "Montalcini" isprobably the area in Italy where Rita's maternal ancestors settledand whose name they adopted;Jews frequently took the names of Italianlocalities. Rita combined the two names when she began to work in the UnitedStates. She rejected advice from colleagues to drop "Levi" anduse only "Montalcini," a Jewish name The Jewish name has historically varied, encompassing throughout the centuries several different traditions. This article looks at the onomastics practices of Jews, that is, the history of the origin and forms of proper names. in Italy but not in theUnited States. When the Germans occupied Italy during World War II, theLevis went underground and took an Italian name Names in Italian are often directly derived from Latin ones. While in Latin there were nomen, pr?nomen, and cognomen, in Italian there are nome and cognome, the pr?nomen having been absorbed by the nome. , to shield themselves,as well as the Catholic woman who sheltered them at great risk. Theadvice to change her name was Rita's early encounter with theattempt by American Jews American Jews, or Jewish Americans, are American citizens or resident aliens who were born into the Jewish community or who have converted to Judaism. The United States is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the world. to circumvent antisemitism by concealing a namethat revealed their heritage, but she was determined never to change hername again. In fact, I suspect she uses the names of both mother andfather because she is a feminist. Her hyphenated hy��phen��at��ed?adj.1. Having a hyphen: a hyphenated adjective.2. Often Offensive Of or relating to naturalized citizens or their descendants or culture. name, and the elegantgold jewelry she wore, that Italian women seem to favor, led anethnocentric eth��no��cen��trism?n.1. Belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group.2. Overriding concern with race.eth American psychologist The American Psychologist is the official journal of the American Psychological Association. It contains archival documents and articles covering current issues in psychology, the science and practice of psychology, and psychology's contribution to public policy. , who encountered Rita at scientificmeetings, to assume she was supported by a wealthy Italian husband.Nothing could be further from the facts of her life. As a child Rita was consumed by anxieties arising mainly from twosources: her father's unpredictable wrath, and the nightmaresinduced by his stories about the precarious situation of Jews under theItalian Inquisition, and during the pogroms in Eastern Europe Eastern EuropeThe countries of eastern Europe, especially those that were allied with the USSR in the Warsaw Pact, which was established in 1955 and dissolved in 1991. . Thisfearful little girl, utterly lacking in self-confidence, needed to havePaola walk with her at dusk to their bedroom, through the long, shadowyhall where dark and evil spirits lurked. Secure in the love of herfather, Paola did not imagine malevolent beings lying in wait. She wasnot frightened by "the severity and the piercing quality ofAdamo's gaze, the slight flaring of the nostrils preceding hisbrief but violent outbursts of anger, the imperious im��pe��ri��ous?adj.1. Arrogantly domineering or overbearing. See Synonyms at dictatorial.2. Urgent; pressing.3. Obsolete Regal; imperial. voice." [2]This anger, permitted expression by his status of male head ofhousehold, seemed additionally to have been an innate characteristic.Even as a boy Adamo would turn his wrath on whichever of his 17 siblingshe thought was behaving badly Behaving Badly is a thoroughbred racing mare born on April 5, 2001 in New York and a top sprinting distaffer. Sired by Pioneering, a Mr. Prospector son (going back to Secretariat), out of Timeleighness (by Sir Raleigh), she was bred by Thomas and Lakin, and owned by Patti and Hal J. ; in the carefree environment of his largefamily t his earned him the sobriquet "Damino the Terrible."[3] But Rita trembled with fear when she saw its portents and, extendingthis fear to all adults, fled from them. Socialized so��cial��ize?v. so��cial��ized, so��cial��iz��ing, so��cial��iz��esv.tr.1. To place under government or group ownership or control.2. To make fit for companionship with others; make sociable. by the Italian and Jewish cultural values in theirmilieu- Victorian, Italian, Jewish--Adamo was the patriarch, and Adele,not only his wife but nine years his junior, accepted his authority. Themarkedly different and unequal roles played by the mother and fatherpermeated the household, as Rita points out in her interview in Omni:"The ideal for my father was my mother: exceedingly beautiful,intelligent, refined, but submissive to him, accepting of being numbertwo. He made every decision." [4] The disrespect to Adele that thisimplies, however it was cloaked, must have been sensed by Rita. But itwas undoubtedly also Adamo's temperament that impelled im��pel?tr.v. im��pelled, im��pel��ling, im��pels1. To urge to action through moral pressure; drive: I was impelled by events to take a stand.2. To drive forward; propel. him to makeall the decisions in the household, particularly about the rearing ofthe children, even to the kind of hats worn by "the littlegirls," as he called the twins. [5] Like the control he tried toexercise over his family of origin, Rita ruefully rue��ful?adj.1. Inspiring pity or compassion.2. Causing, feeling, or expressing sorrow or regret.rue notes the extent ofhis domination over his family: "An endless number of [ldots]episodes du ring our pre-school and first school years concerning Paolaand myself, as well as our brother and sister, convinced me that, inspite of the fact we only saw him at lunch and dinner and that he wasoften away in Ban for weeks on end, managing the big plant he had built,it was he who controlled our lives, even in small details." [6] Nevertheless, harmony reigned in this household. "I wasbrought up" said Rita, "in an environment that, though notpermissive, was brimming with affection, and never troubled bydisagreements between my mother and father." [7] She was alsopainfully aware of Adele's subordination, the price she paid tokeep the peace. That she could not count on her mother to fend off thefather's rages, was not this one source of her unease? Another side of Adamo's temperament was exuberantly Italian.He loved Italian opera The opera company which was commonly referred to as "The Italian Opera" performed at Her Majesty's Theatre in Haymarket until 1847 and from then on at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, LondonItalian opera , knew all the popular arias, and would sometimessing them in a melodious baritone that filled the whole apartment duringthe lengthy shaving process in the morning. "His singing,"wrote Rita, "made us happy; it was a sign he was in highspirits Adj. 1. in high spirits - happy and excited and energetichighelated - exultantly proud and joyful; in high spirits; "the elated winner"; "felt elated and excited" ." [8] Obviously the family's psychological well-being psychological well-beingResearch A nebulous legislative term intended to ensure that certain categories of lab animals, especially primates, don't 'go nuts' as a result of experimental design or conditions depended to a considerable extent on Adamo's variable disposition.When Rita lived in St. Louis, Missouri, she played the records of theseoperas, also very loudly Adv. 1. very loudly - a direction in music; to be played very loudlyfortissimo . During the summer months in their uncle's Asti villa, her malecousins would torment Rita, who vehemently rejected the idea of malesuperiority, by jeering that no women could compare with Newton,Einstein, Michelangelo, Leonardo, and other male geniuses in the artsand sciences. Rita was gratified grat��i��fy?tr.v. grat��i��fied, grat��i��fy��ing, grat��i��fies1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father.See Synonyms at please.2. that her brother and father refrainedfrom such harassment. In fact, her father always insisted that the mostintelligent of his siblings was his sister Tina. A little younger thanAdamo, since early childhood she had displayed extraordinary gifts formusic and mathematics, and when she was over sixty, she became a verysuccessful sculptor. From Adamo, who dominated his wife and children but boasted abouthis sister's accomplishments, Rita paradoxically gained assurancethat women could achieve on a very high level, and was perhaps therebyempowered to choose medicine as a career, Paola choosing art, like AuntTina. In fact, Gino also wanted to be a sculptor, but Adamo felt his sonshould follow in his footsteps and become an engineer. Gino compromisedby studying architecture and became one of the most prominent Italianarchitects of the post-war period. Though Rita adored her mother and was Adele's favorite child,her father's influence was far stronger. Why did she not attributeto adults the warmth she experienced from her mother rather than thefearsomeness of her father's anger? It was only after Adamo'sdeath that she began to wonder whether his rages derived from hisalienating role as a business man which he, an engineer, had to play inorder to support the family; and to recognize that her habit ofunderestimating, and thus overcoming, the obstacles she encountered waspart of her paternal heritage. In 1988 Rita dedicated her autobiography"To Paola and to the memory of our father whom she adored while helived and whom I loved and worshipped after his death." The adoredmother, also dead by this time, strangely was left out. Religion was problematic early in Rita's life. Cincirla, thetwins' governess for a brief period, was a religious fanatic whoworked for Jews in order to convert them, thought Rita, and whosesinister portrayal of Jews undoubtedly contributed to Rita'suncertainties. In one story Cincirla had Israelites, as they werecalled, go into a church in Messina, Sicily, and challenge the image ofJesus to send an earthquake if he was really a god, and the next day thecity was devastated dev��as��tate?tr.v. dev��as��tat��ed, dev��as��tat��ing, dev��as��tates1. To lay waste; destroy.2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. by a terrible earthquake. This was surely savagebehavior to innocent victims by a god culturally intent on provinghimself. [9] Cincirla tried to persuade the children to go with her tochurch to receive holy water from the priest so that they could be savedfrom the curse hanging over all Israelites and go to heaven when theydied. [10] When Rita was told that her parents would not be able to goto heaven with them, she rejected this golden opportunity to slipthrough the pearly gates Pear��ly Gates?n. InformalThe gateway to heaven.[From the description of heaven in Revelation 21. . Since the family did not go to church or synagogue, the Catholicchildren with whom the twins played were curious about their religion;whereupon Adamo notified them, before they could even read and write,that they were freethinkers freethinkers,those who arrive at conclusions, particularly in questions of religion, by employing the rules of reason while rejecting supernatural authority or ecclesiastical tradition. and could choose or refuse a religion whenthey reached the age of twenty-one. Never having heard of thefreethinkers' religion, the neighbors were puzzled, which isolatedthe twins even more. Perhaps they inferred, from Adamo's strategyof omission and supplantation, that they were not to identify as Jews.But this would have increased their confusion, in view of his strongJewish identification. In the liberal climate that pervaded Italy after the Risorgimento,Adamo was a secular Jew, his admired uncle-stepfather having failed inhis attempt to make a rabbi of him, though the attempt implies areligious education. Moreover, as a university student his classmates Classmates can refer to either: Classmates.com, a social networking website. Classmates (film), a 2006 Malayalam blockbuster directed by Lal Jose, starring Prithviraj, Jayasurya, Indragith, Sunil, Jagathy, Kavya Madhavan, Balachandra Menon, ... and friends were mainly Catholic, and two of them married his sisters.But Adamo never thought of converting to Catholicism, and fought a boywho made insulting remarks about Jews. Still when it came to hischildren, he decided they should forego a religious education, andthereby denied them the Jewish identification he himself neverrelinquished. Presumably pre��sum��a��ble?adj.That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. his son Gino was not circumcised and did notcelebrate a Bar Mitzvah Bar Mitzvah(bärmĭts`və)[Aramaic,=son of the Commandment], Jewish ceremony in which the young male is initiated into the religious community, according to tradition at the age of 13 years and a day. . Without being imprinted by these rudders ofJudaism, and with his father's emphasis on free thinking, Gino musthave found it easy to convert to Catholicism in later life. While thedaughters retained their Jewish identity Jewish identity is the subjective state of perceiving oneself as as a Jew and as relating to being Jewish. Jewish identity, by this definition, does not depend on whether or not a person is regarded as a Jew by others, or by an external set of religious, or legal, or sociological , Gino the architect, with hisway to make in the world, may have converted for the same reasons manyItalians, Jews and non-Jews, found it expedient to join the FascistParty. Religion was a source of disturbance to the Levi children from bothCatholic and Jewish perspectives. Yom Kippur Yom Kippur[Heb.,=day of atonement], in Judaism, the most sacred holy day, falling on the 10th day of the Jewish month of Tishri (usually late September or early October). It is a day of fasting and prayer for forgiveness for sins committed during the year. was the occasion of ahead-on collision A head-on collision is one where the front ends of two ships, trains, planes or vehicles hit each other, as opposed to a side-collision or rear-end collision. Rail transportWith rail, a head-on collision often implies a collision on a single line railway. with their cousins, the children of Adele'ssister. The two families spent this time of the year in the lushwine-producing Asti area, in their uncle's villa, surrounded by avineyard and an orchard full of ripe fruit, which the Levi childrendevoured on the Day of Atonement Day of Atonementn.See Yom Kippur.[Translation of Hebrew y?m kipp?r.]Day of AtonementNounsame as Yom KippurNoun 1. as on other days, despite the scorn andscowls of their cousins. To please his wife, Adamo consented to attend the Passover Seder The Passover Seder (Hebrew: סֵדֶר, seeɛɾ, "order", "arrangement") is a Jewish ritual feast held on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover (the 15th day of Hebrew month of Nisan). held at the home of her uncles and her Aunt Anna, in the company ofAdele's sister's family and her three bachelor brothers. Theone Rita liked best was Uncle Manno because he, like her mother, wastall, blond, and English-looking. The mayor of a village in the Astihills, he had brought to it electricity, the telephone, and a school. Rita liked the exotic food and the beautiful table setting of hergreat-aunt Anna, but her father's behavior during the reading ofthe Hagaddah distressed her. One of Adele's uncles read it inItalian, and when he reached the part about the infliction in��flic��tion?n.1. The act or process of imposing or meting out something unpleasant.2. Something, such as punishment, that is inflicted.Noun 1. of the tenplagues on the Egyptians, Adamo would murmur "What hatred!"despite Aunt Anna's reproachful re��proach��ful?adj.Expressing reproach or blame.re��proachful��ly adv.re��proach look and his wife's whisperedplea, "Damino, please!" Turning to his children he would say,"I can't understand why five thousand years afterward, we haveto take pleasure not so much in the end of slavery and the exodus fromEgypt as in the fact that the Eternal Father punished our enemies withall these plagues." [11 Rita agreed with her father, but hisconflict with Aunt Anna, who had adopted and raised Adele, was painfulfor everyone. In the interests of making his children into goodfreethinkers Adamo felt compelled to warn them against routineacceptance of the Bible, and the dictates of authority in general. Infact, it seemed as though they were to acc ept no authority but his. Inrecounting these incidents Rita was at pains to stress that her fatherfully recognized his "Jewish stock" and was proud of the"indomitable in��dom��i��ta��ble?adj.Incapable of being overcome, subdued, or vanquished; unconquerable.[Late Latin indomit tenacity" [12] and spiritual values of hisuncle-stepfather and of other members of the family and friends of hisyouth. But his children, denied a similar identification, could hardlyshare his pride. When the Levi children completed middle school, their parents hadto choose a high school which would prepare them for university, or givethem vocational or artistic training. Gino, of course, went to the highschool that prepared him for university. Adamo, with two sisters who haddoctoral degrees in literature and mathematics, might have beenmotivated to send his daughters, who were as interested and adept inlearning as Gino, to the same high school. But Adamo's sisters hadfound it very difficult to reconcile their studies with their conjugal Pertaining or relating to marriage; suitable or applicable to married people.Conjugal rights are those that are considered to be part and parcel of the state of matrimony, such as love, sex, companionship, and support. and maternal roles. He sent his daughters to the girls' highschool. [13] After they graduated Nina prepared for her arranged marriage The purpose of an arranged marriage is to form a new family unit by marriage while respecting the chastity of all people involved. As suggested by the term, an arranged marriage is typically arranged by someone other than the persons getting married, curtailing or avoiding the , Paolastudied art with a well-known artist, and Rita was unhappy. Timid inadolescence as in childhood, she was not interested in sports, or in thesocial life of young women looking for Looking forIn the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. husbands. "The subordinaterole played by the female in a society run entirely by men," shewrote, "made the status of a wife less than attractive" andshe had no interest at all in babies. [14] At this juncture hergoverness, Giovanna, who had been with the family since before Rita wasborn, was operated on for stomach cancer. Confronted by the criticalillness of a woman she dearly loved, Rita decided to study medicine, andassured Giovanna she would make her well again. But she died very soonafter she left the hospital. For the next two years Rita tried to convince her father to allowher to go to medical school but, with the conflicts of his educatedsisters in mind, he objected that "it was a long and difficultcourse of study, unsuitable for a woman." [15] Finally he yielded.Rita and her cousin Eugenia spent a year studying Latin, Greek andmathematics with tutors, and philosophy, literature and history on theirown. Rita headed the list of candidates on the entrance exams, and in1930 she and Eugenia enrolled in Turin University Medical School on thebanks of the River Po. Near the end of her second year Adamo began to experience frequentanginal pains, but he continued to use public transportation to go thelong distance from Turin to Bari, where his ice-producing factory anddistillery were located. During the economic crises and industrialstrikes of Italy after the first World War, the businesses would havefailed if Adele's three well-to-do bachelor brothers hadn'tpaid the bills, at the same time blaming Adamo's problems on hispoor administration. Adele, the protected wife, vigorously defended herhusband and thenceforth thence��forth?adv.From that time forward; thereafter.thenceforthor thenceforwardAdverbFormal from that time onAdv. 1. accompanied him to Bari, sharing his troubles.When Adamo decided to build a new factory and distillery in Turin, hewas already exhausted by his efforts to avoid bankruptcy in Ban; aftersuffering a series of heart attacks, he died in 1932. Rita began to viewher father as a man of his times, to respect his initiative as anengineer, his energy as a business man, and his efforts to support andeducate his children. Finally, she allowed herself to love him. Rita and Eugenia were two of the seven young women among the threehundred students who attended the Institute of Anatomy at the MedicalSchool. Rita passed her first-year exams with honors, and enrolled forthe second year, attracted by the personality of Giuseppe Levi, norelative, "celebrated in Turin University as a scientist, for theantifascism he professed with supreme disdain for the most elementaryrules of caution, and for his terrible but short-lived fits ofrage." [16] Her life with her father had made Rita an unknowingapprentice for discipleship with Giuseppe, whose rages she also had toabide; he had much to teach her. In histology, a branch of anatomy that deals with the minutestructures of animals and plant tissues discernible with the microscope,Rita lacked the "green fingers" on which success with theslicing cf tissues depended. Rodolfo Amprino, a gifted student whobecame her closest friend during the difficult years ahead, would frownwhen he inspected her slides, though he was impressed by her ability inapplying the silver-impregnation technique on nervous tissues. Giuseppeassigned to Rita the study of the processes involved in forming theconvolutions of the brains of human fetuses. But legal abortions werenot performed in hospitals in the early 1930s, and there was no way shecould obtain any of the enormous numbers performed clandestinely bydoctors and midwives. Giuseppe concluded she was not cut out forresearch, but an emergency operation saved her. Concerned about thehealth of his students, Giuseppe frequently came to the hospital to seeRita. When she emerged, she was assigned a project that gratified her,and marked "the beginning of a Master-disciple relationshipcharacterized by increasing affection and esteem which lasted until hisdeath thirty-one years later." [17] Rita and Eugenia were entrusted with research that later became thetopic of their doctoral dissertations. They demonstrated for the firsttime that the formation of reticular fibers, situated primarily in thebrain stem brain stem,lower part of the brain, adjoining and structurally continuous with the spinal cord. The upper segment of the human brain stem, the pons, contains nerve fibers that connect the two halves of the cerebellum. and revealed by a particular argentic ar��gen��tic?adj.Of or containing silver.Adj. 1. argentic - relating to compounds in which silver is bivalent staining, was aproperty of muscular and epithelial tissues as well as of connectivetissue. The experience Rita gained studying tissues, especially nervoustissues in vitro in vitro/in vi��tro/ (in ve��tro) [L.] within a glass; observable in a test tube; in an artificial environment. in vi��troadj.In an artificial environment outside a living organism. (outside the living body), led her later to perfectthis technique, which was so important in her discovery of the NerveGrowth Factor. "For the first time," she wrote, "I becamepassionate about research." [18] Rita made few friends at the university. With her grim face and thesevere nunlike clothes she made for herself, she was described by aclassmate "as a kind of squid, ready to squirt ink at anybody whocame near." [19] However, several male students tried to break downthe barrier. One student was Guido, who always whistled a Beethovensymphony or a Mozart aria; Rita liked to ride on the back of hismotorcycle. Their friendship lasted after graduation and the Nazioccupation; he played a heroic and dangerous role in the undergroundstruggle, and his escape was miraculous. [20] In the dissection room Rita met Germano, a blue-eyed, blond youth,who courted her throughout the university years. His father was thedoctor in a mountain village, but his timid mother could barely writeher name, and Guido felt that his inferior family background precludedmarriage to Rita. However, as soon as the anti-Jewish laws were passed,Germano proposed marriage. From membership in the Fascist party, likethe vast majority of young men in those years, he became a ferociousanti-Fascist when the newspapers began their attacks on Jews. The Leviswere amazed by his open discussion of marriage to Rita, and hisindifference to the harm such a marriage would do to his career.However, this possibility was eliminated by the decree in November,1938, prohibiting marriage between "Aryan" citizens and Jews.In any case, Rita, despite her fondness for Germano, would not havemarried him; their cultural differences were too great. Rita graduated summa cum laude sum��ma cum lau��de?adv. & adj.With the greatest honor. Used to express the highest academic distinction: graduated summa cum laude; a summa cum laude graduate. , at the head of her class, in 1936,and was rewarded by a trip to a scientific conference in Sweden. Shedecided to specialize in neurology and psychiatry, and was given a jobas assistant lecturer in the Anatomy Department. When the anti-Jewishlaws were passed Rita was dismissed from the neurology clinic and fromher academic post, and deprived of the right to practice medicine.However, she accepted an invitation to continue her research at aneurology institute in Brussels. Germano, Paola, and Gino accompaniedher to the border, and before they parted Germano said mournfully mourn��ful?adj.1. Feeling or expressing sorrow or grief; sorrowful.2. Causing or suggesting sadness or melancholy: the mournful sound of a train whistle. thatthis was the last time they would meet; he had contracted tuberculosisand expected to die very soon. When his condition worsened Rita cameback to Italy to visit him, and at his death, she knelt with his familyfor the last rites in the village church. A short time later, the threatof a German invasion of Belgium led to her return to Italy. During the early stages of the press attacks on the Jews Rita wasbewildered. By 1938 all the Italian newspapers, from the notoriouslyantisemitic ones to those that had been neutral, even liberal, werescurrilous, and Rita went into a stupor stupor/stu��por/ (stoo��per) [L.]1. a lowered level of consciousness.2. in psychiatry, a disorder marked by reduced responsiveness.stu��porousstu��porn. . But when she was dismissed thatyear from the University she experienced a sense of liberation from thenightmare of an antisemitism, all the more menacing for being invisibleand yet ever present," [21] that had tormented her since earlychildhood. Seventy years after Piedmont conferred equal rights on allcitizens regardless of religion, these rights were abrogated for Jews.In the reality of persecution Rita responded defiantly: "For thefirst time I felt pride in being Jewish and not Israelite, as we hadbeen called in the liberal climate of my early years, and though stillprofoundly secular, I felt a bond with those who were, like me, thevictims of the lurid campaign unleashed by the Fascist press." [22] At first Rita practiced medicine surreptitiously sur��rep��ti��tious?adj.1. Obtained, done, or made by clandestine or stealthy means.2. Acting with or marked by stealth. See Synonyms at secret. by caring for thepoor people of Turin without fees, but the need to have"Aryan" doctors sign prescriptions forced her to abandon thispractice. In the fall of 1940, Rodolfo Amprino, recently returned fromthe United States, came to see her. Receiving no reply when he askedabout her projects, he suggested, in his brusque brusquealso brusk ?adj.Abrupt and curt in manner or speech; discourteously blunt. See Synonyms at gruff.[French, lively, fierce, from Italian brusco, coarse, rough Piedmontese manner,that she set up a small laboratory and continue her research, as eminentscientists had done with poor equipment in the past. Rodolfo re-awakenedRita's desire, since earliest childhood, to venture into unknownlands, now represented by the nervous system. Chick embryos could easily be procured and incubated at home, andGino helped her build a lab. The stereomicroscope ster��e��o��mi��cro��scope?n.A microscope equipped for stereoscopic viewing.stere��o��mi for operating on theembryos, and a binocular binocular,small optical instrument consisting of two similar telescopes mounted on a single frame so that separate images enter each of the viewer's eyes. As with a single telescope, distant objects appear magnified, but the binocular has the additional advantage Zeiss microscope, with eyepieces andphotographic apparatus, were the most expensive items. Other itemsincluded a watchmaker's forceps, ophthalmic microscissors andordinary sewing needles which Rita ground into very sharp microscalpels.Gino built a glass thermo-regulated box with circular openings in frontthrough which Rita could insert her arms and operate on the embryosunder the microscope. The first experiments turned out well. Soon after Italy entered the war, one summer Rita was riding on acattle train used by civilians for short journeys in the provinces,since the civilian trains were appropriated for troop transportation.Sitting on the floor with her legs dangling over the side, holding on tothe vertical bars and the hand of Guido, the aria whistler, she read inan American journal an article by Viktor Hamburger, that interested her.It described an experiment which she replicated many times, and in thewinter of 1942 she wrote up her findings, different fromHamburger's, in an article she sent to a Belgian journal. Later that year the Allies began systematically to bomb the citiesof northern Italy, particularly industrialized in��dus��tri��al��ize?v. in��dus��tri��al��ized, in��dus��tri��al��iz��ing, in��dus��tri��al��iz��esv.tr.1. To develop industry in (a country or society, for example).2. Turin, and the Levis,along with many other Turinese, moved to the Astigiano highlands, anhour from Turin. Rita set up her lab on a little table in the corner ofthe dining area of a small house they rented, and cycled from hill tohill begging farmers to sell her their eggs, particularly the fertilized fer��til��ize?v. fer��til��ized, fer��til��iz��ing, fer��til��iz��esv.tr.1. To cause the fertilization of (an ovum, for example).2. ones, for "her babies." [23] The burgeoning of plant andanimal life in the springtime stimulated her interest in the nervoussystem of different specimens, and she came to realize how"individual cells behave in a way similar to that of living beings,how plastic and malleable is the entire nervous system," [24]unlike the rigid and unchanging structure described in neuranatomytextbooks of the time. On September 8 Badoglio, who became prime minister when Mussoliniresigned, announced that the Italian troops had ceased all hostilitiesagainst the Allies. On that terrible date, to which Jewish survivorsrefer time and again, like the antiphon antiphon, in liturgical musicantiphon(ăn`tĭfən), in Roman Catholic liturgical music, generally a short text sung before and after a psalm or canticle. The main use is in group singing of the Divine Office in a monastery. to a dirge dirge?n.1. Musica. A funeral hymn or lament.b. A slow, mournful musical composition.2. A mournful or elegiac poem or other literary work.3. , the Germans marchedinto Italy, and into Italy they brought the Holocaust, with itsroundups, mass shootings, Gestapo interrogations, incarcerations,disappearances, and eventual deportations to extermination exterminationmass killing of animals or other pests. Implies complete destruction of the species or other group. camps. But during this terrible time, Italians kept faith with the Jews.One example was the protection that nuns and doctors gave to a brotherof Adele who, hospitalized before September 8, remained in the clinicafter that date. "Everybody in Asti knew of his presence in theclinic," wrote Rita, "but so deep was the hatred for theNazi-Fascists, and so strong the general pity for the persecuted, thatno one informed on him or on the many other clandestine Jews. Indeed incourageous solidarity, thousands of Italians offered Jews protection atgrave risk to themselves." [25] Very soon the Levis were also toexperience such beneficence beneficence (b·neˑ·fi·s . On September 10 German tanks were sitting outside Turin'scentral railway station and the German military police took control ofcity traffic. The Levis had to flee for their lives. They tried crossinginto Switzerland but were rebuffed by the Italian guards at thefrontier. With false identity cards, they then boarded a train goingsouth and Rita found herself facing a former fellow student in a Fascistuniform, who asked where they were heading. In the chaos at the railwaystation, she said, they had boarded the wrong train and would be gettingoff at the next stop. This turned out to be Florence. They got off thetrain in a heavy downpour very early in the morning and phoned a friendof Paola, who took them to meet Consilia Leoncini. Looking intently at Adele, Paola, and Rita, Consilia said, "Ihave a room available and would be glad to rent it on condition you arenot Jews.,, [26] She couldn't take risks with her father and sisterill in the house, and her son away at the front. They said their namewas Lupani, assured her they were Catholics from Apulia, and Consiliagave them a large room. Thereafter they spent their time filling outfalse identity cards, printed by the Partisans, which they distributedto friends who also managed to reach Florence. With the identity cardsthey procured ration cards, which "sanctioned, at leasttemporarily, the right to life, of which we had been deprived by theNazi invasion of Italy. [27] Meanwhile they discovered that Consilia wasan ardent anti-Fascist and they all listened to the BBC BBCin full British Broadcasting Corp.Publicly financed broadcasting system in Britain. A private company at its founding in 1922, it was replaced by a public corporation under royal charter in 1927. every evening onthe radio. They also learned from Cosetta, Consilia's daughter,that her mother had realized they were Jews early on when Adelerepeatedly contradicted herself about their past life, but they decidedto accept the risk of sheltering them. Giuseppe Levi also managed toreach Florence, where his wife and two children were staying, and he andRita edited a new edition of his two volumes on histology. On August 3, 1944 a state of emergency was proclaimed in Florence,limiting movement during the day and imposing a curfew. That night thesorrowful sor��row��ful?adj.Affected with, marked by, causing, or expressing sorrow. See Synonyms at sad.sorrow��ful��ly adv. Florentines watched the Nazis blow up the beautiful, ancientbridges over the Arno, so that no supplies could reach the city, whichwas now without water, bread, and electricity. For the next month theGermans and the Partisans alternately held various parts of the city,and although Nazi and Fascist snipers on the roofs constantly fired atpassersby, Rita went out into the streets, risking being blown up by oneof the mines the Germans had scattered about, to breathe the air offreedom. On September 2 the British marched into Florence and for thefirst time Rita saw a bus marked with a Star of David, now no longer anobject of derision, and thirsty people drank from watertanks bearing thesame emblem. Early in September Rita registered with the Allied health servicewhere she and three other doctors were assigned to what was to be hermost intense, exhausting, and last experience as a medical doctor. Withthe British and American troops and Italian Partisans fighting theGermans in the Apennines south of Bologna, Allied trucks brought toFlorence hundreds of endangered families of farm workers from that area.Because nurses were scarce Rita acted as both doctor and nurse in ahuge, old, decayed, military barracks bar��rack?1?tr.v. bar��racked, bar��rack��ing, bar��racksTo house (soldiers, for example) in quarters.n.1. A building or group of buildings used to house military personnel. , where babies and old people lay,suffering from malnutrition and cold, and many of the newborns,extremely dehydrated de��hy��drate?v. de��hy��drat��ed, de��hy��drat��ing, de��hy��dratesv.tr.1. To remove water from; make anhydrous.2. To preserve by removing water from (vegetables, for example). , died. Toward the end of winter the number ofrefugees suffering from abdominal typhoid typhoidor typhoid feverAcute infectious disease resembling typhus (and distinguished from it only in the 19th century). Salmonella typhi, usually ingested in food or water, multiplies in the intestinal wall and then enters the bloodstream, causing became epidemic in theovercrowded o��ver��crowd?v. o��ver��crowd��ed, o��ver��crowd��ing, o��ver��crowdsv.tr.To cause to be excessively crowded: a system of consolidation that only overcrowded the classrooms. barracks where the drinking water drinking watersupply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. was polluted, Taking careof the seriously ill A patient is seriously ill when his or her illness is of such severity that there is cause for immediate concern but there is no imminent danger to life. See also very seriously ill. , Rita was constantly exposed to contagion ContagionThe likelihood of significant economic changes in one country spreading to other countries. This can refer to either economic booms or economic crises.Notes:An infamous example is the "Asian Contagion" that occurred in 1997 and started in Thailand. . As thedeath rate increased, her feeling of impotence grew; she was unable tomuster the necessary detachment. In July, 1945, the Levis returned to Turin, and Rita, severelydepressed, decided she would never practice medicine again. Along withGiuseppe Levi and the other Jewish professors who had survived, Ritaresumed her previous position in the School of Medicine. Aware of herinadequate scientific training, she also took courses in the biologydepartment, and started a research project with Rodolfo Amprimo, withwhom she ate her lunch sandwich every day, sitting serenely outdoors inthe sunlight. One summer morning in 1946 Giuseppe showed Rita a letter fromViktor Hamburger, who had read Rita's paper in the Belgian journal,her conclusions different from his, inviting her to spend a semesterwith him to investigate the problem further. In 1947 she set sail forthe New World and, after war-torn Italy, found the Garden of Eden Garden of Edenn.See Eden.Noun 1. Garden of Eden - a beautiful garden where Adam and Eve were placed at the Creation; when they disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil they were in thebiology department of Washington University Washington University,at St. Louis, Mo.; coeducational; est. as Eliot Seminary 1853, opened 1854, renamed 1857. It has a well-known medical school and school of social work as well as research centers for radiology, space studies, engineering computing, and the , in St. Louis, Missouri,chaired by Viktor Hamburger. The investigation of the problem that hadbrought Rita to St. Louis, "the effects of amputation amputation(ăm'pyətā`shən), removal of all or part of a limb or other body part. Although amputation has been practiced for centuries, the development of sophisticated techniques for treatment and prevention of infection has greatly on thedevelopment of the nervous centers in charge of the innervation innervation/in��ner��va��tion/ (in?er-va��shun)1. the distribution or supply of nerves to a part.2. the supply of nervous energy or of nerve stimulation sent to a part. of theexcised limbs" [28] of chick embryos, proved Rita's findingsto be valid. Once settled in the department, where she was to remain for 30years rather than one semester, Rita began to explore St. Louis and itsenvirons, and to visit her former classmate, microbiologist SalvadorLuria Salvador Edward Luria (August 13, 1912 – February 6, 1991) was an Italian-born American microbiologist and Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate for his pioneering work with Max Delbr��ck and Alfred Hershey on phages in molecular biology. , chairman of the biology department of Indiana University atBloomington. Several times she met James Watson, Luria's student,who was invariably in��var��i��a��ble?adj.Not changing or subject to change; constant.in��vari��a��bil rude to her, "a frail foreign woman," asshe described herself at this time. She attributed his attitude to his"well-known anti-feminism," [29] which Rosalind Franklin, theEnglish physical chemist, was later to experience when, unbeknownst toher, he used her experimental data on the structure of the DNA DNA:see nucleic acid. DNAor deoxyribonucleic acidOne of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. moleculein his own work, won a Nobel Prize, and then drew a vicious portrait ofher as a spinsterish feminist in Tue Double Helix double helixn.The coiled structure of a double-stranded DNA molecule in which strands linked by hydrogen bonds form a spiral configuration. Also called DNA helix, Watson-Crick helix. . [30] At this time Rita had many doubts about the value of theneuroembryological research she was doing. But one day, examining herlatest series of silver-salt-impregnated chick-embryo sections, itbecame clear to her that nervous systems were more accessible toinvestigation than she had imagined. "The revelations of that daystayed permanently inscribed in��scribe?tr.v. in��scribed, in��scrib��ing, in��scribes1. a. To write, print, carve, or engrave (words or letters) on or in a surface.b. To mark or engrave (a surface) with words or letters. in my memory as marking not only the end ofthe long period of doubt and lack of faith in my research," wroteRita, "but also the sealing of a lifelong alliance between me andthe nervous system." [31] It seemed to Rita that the nerve cells and their fibers were beingtransmitted in a way characteristic of a humoral hu��mor��aladj.1. Relating to body fluids, especially serum.2. Relating to or arising from any of the bodily humors.HumoralPertaining to or derived from a body fluid. (relating to bodilyfluid) substance, and she decided to test her hypothesis. She confirmedthe humoral nature of the substance, which she called the"nerve-growth promoting agent," [32] and concluded it could beidentified by the in-vitro (outside the body) technique. With a grantfrom the Rockefeller Foundation, she decided to visit her friend, HerthaMeyer, who had long ago set up an in-vitro culture unit at theUniversity of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, city, BrazilRio de Janeiro(rē`ō də zhänā`rō, Port. rē` thĭ zhənĕē`r . At the end of summer, 1952 she implantedcells of two different tumors respectively into two white mice, put themin a small cardboard box, with an apple for food and drink, fitted itinto her coat pocket, and set off for a few days in Italy before goingon to Brazil, where she repeatedly confirmed her basic findings. She spent her last night in Rio at the ocean, which was lit bythousands of tiny flames from the torches of the many people joyouslypaying tribute to Iemanja, goddess of the sea, during Carnival. On her return to St. Louis she met and began her collaboration withDr. Stanley Cohen, a flute-playing biochemist and newly-appointedresearch associate in the biology department. With his vague notionsabout the nervous system and Rita's inadequate knowledge ofbiochemistry, both profited immensely from their collaboration."You and I are good, Rita," Stan said, "but together weare wonderful." [33] Immediately after her return to St Louis Rita had set up anin-vitro culture unit, and after a year of intense work they found thegrowth-stimulating substance, which they named the Nerve Growth Factor(NGF). This occurred in 1958, and that year Viktor fired Stan, who leftWashington University six months later. After working together from 1953to 1959. which Rita termed "the six most intense and productiveyears of my life," the news "sounded to her like the tollingof a funeral bell." [34] Until Stan appeared, Rita and Viktor had worked closely together,but the Rita/Stan collaboration left Viktor out, and, using his power aschairman, he ended it. Rita was in despair, but was at no time criticalof Viktor, who had brought her out of devastated Italy and helped herestablish herself as a scientist in the United States. But now shechanged her relationship to him. With a grant from the National ScienceFoundation, in 1961 she established a counterpart laboratory in Rome,where she spent six months of each year, alternating the direction ofthe lab and her work at Washington University with a colleague,biochemist Piero Angeletti. Adele died in 1963, and now the twins livedtogether again, in Rome, where Rita partially overcame the barrier thatPaola had long ago erected against her. Extremely knowledgeable aboutpainting and sculpture, Paola, an artist's artist, drew closer toRita during their talks about art at home and in art galleries. Rita's project, begun with a limited goal and manyresearchers, was welcomed by the Consiglio Nazionale della Ricerce, CNR See riser card. CNR - Communication and Network Riser (National Research Council) in Rome, which gave her some funding afterthe first year, to supplement her grant from the National ScienceFoundation. Also, the Institute of Health made available three large,fully-equipped rooms, and within three months Rita's unit waslarger than the one in the biology department at Washington University.But, accustomed to the cordial "Hi, Doc" of Americantechnicians and students, she was embarrassed by the Italianobsequiousness ob��se��qui��ous?adj.Full of or exhibiting servile compliance; fawning.[Middle English, from Latin obsequi and ceremony (abolished by the student revolts of thelate 1960s) which regulated relationships between professors and allothers. In the cheerful atmosphere of the first half of the 1960s thedeciphering of the NGF's mechanism of action seemed nearcompletion. But despite the interest aroused by the two articles Ritaand Stan published, few scientists explored this area, "the resultsbeing so perplexing per��plex?tr.v. per��plexed, per��plex��ing, per��plex��es1. To confuse or trouble with uncertainty or doubt. See Synonyms at puzzle.2. To make confusedly intricate; complicate. and hard to reconcile with prevailing theory."[35] In 1969 Rita's small Center of Neurobiology NeurobiologyStudy of the development and function of the nervous system, with emphasis on how nerve cells generate and control behavior. The major goal of neurobiology is to explain at the molecular level how nerve cells differentiate and develop their became an officialorgan of the CNR which she directed as the Laboratory of Cell Biology.Situated in the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?"midmost of Rome's chaotic traffic, its location wasin great contrast with Washington University's quiet, orderlycampus and the stability engendered by security guards, which permittedRita to work in her lab at any hour of the day or night. In Washington,Vincenzo Bocchini and Pietro Angeletti perfected techniques forpurifying NGF, enabling Ruth Hogue Angeletti and Ralph Bradshaw toelucidate the amino acid amino acid(əmē`nō), any one of a class of simple organic compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and in certain cases sulfur. These compounds are the building blocks of proteins. sequence of the protein molecule in 1971. In1983 this knowledge enabled two teams of investigators in the UnitedStates to identify the DNA that codes for the molecule and itsoriginating gene in different animal species, including human beings.[36] In 1977 Rita reached retirement age in Washington University and in1979, in Rome. "Since then," she writes, "I have beenallowed, if not without opposition, to continue to work in the capacityof a guest in the institute which I had seen born under better auspicesten years earlier." [37] She directs the Rome laboratory where Aloesupervises seven young women, one of whom, Luisa Bracchi-Laudiero, toldme that her grandmother, but not her mother, had always encouraged herinterest in science, and proudly calls her "my littleLevi-Montalcini." Aloe mentioned to me that in Italy many morewomen are entering the sciences and applying to labs than ever before,Rita being their primary role model, although, as in the United States,they rarely go beyond the middle levels. Throughout the 1980s an outburst of activity surrounded NGF, andthe identification of the gene coding for human NGF made possible itssynthesis in great quantities. The findings have given rise to thehypothesis linking its absence, reduction, or damage to many of thenervous system dysfunctions for which there is still no known cure. Bythe middle 1980s Rita's importance as a major scientist wasrecognized. In 1986 she received a Lasker award, the most prestigiousscience prize in the United States. In the same year Rita and StanleyCohen were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for theirdiscovery of the Nerve Growth Factor. Of the 625 prizes that have been awarded in the ninety-three yearperiod of the Nobel prize, women have received only twenty-five, and ofthose, only five in medicine and physiology. She is the first Italianwoman to receive a Nobel Prize in science. Rita had to wait for theprize until she was 77 years old. The cytogeneticist cy��to��ge��net��ics?n. (used with a sing. verb)The branch of biology that deals with heredity and the cellular components, particularly chromosomes, associated with heredity. , BarbaraMcClintock, had to wait about forty years until 1983, when she was 81years old. James Watson waited nine years, thanks to his use of RosalindFranklin's experimental data on the structure of the DNA molecule.In addition to their scientific genius Rita and Barbara had to have alucky gene for longevity. Besides publishing more than 200 articles on science, severalarticles on the social significance of science, and her autobiography,Rita wrote "The Feminine Awakening," a paper dealing with thewomen's emancipation movement from its origin in the earlynineteenth century to 1970. She presented it in 1971 at the "ProCultura Feminile" Conference in Turin, and it was finally publishedin the journal Lettera in May, 1994. Obviously, Rita has always been apassionate feminist. Rita speaks to adolescents in schools throughout Italy, urging themto face life with optimism and faith in people, and quoting AnnFrank's farewell words on the eve On the Eve (Накануне in Russian) is the third novel by famous Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, best known for his short stories and the novel Fathers and Sons. of the discovery of the Frankhiding place by the Nazis: "I think that this cruelty too will end,that peace and tranquillity will return again. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified"meantime, meanwhile I mustuphold my ideals, for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able tocarry them out." It came for Rita. Dr. Shirley Tilghman, professor of molecular biology molecular biology,scientific study of the molecular basis of life processes, including cellular respiration, excretion, and reproduction. The term molecular biology was coined in 1938 by Warren Weaver, then director of the natural sciences program at the Rockefeller at Princeton,writes: "The culture of science evolved in a period when it wasbeing practiced exclusively by men, and that has greatly influenced theoutcome. It is a men's game, and it continues to be played bymen's rules. Linda Wilson, president of Radcliffe and a chemist,recently suggested that the fierce rivalries and ruthless competitionamong scientists was incompatible with the inclusion of women andminorities in science.[ldot] But science is an extraordinary profession.I know of few other professions where the excitement that brought you tothe field in the first place is sustained over so many years. It wouldbe a tragedy to exclude women from all this fun." [38] And indeed,for Rita Levi-Montalcini, science is pure joy, as much at eighty-five asat twenty. On April 22, 1999 Rita had her ninetieth birthday, and alsocelebrated the publication of her new book Ninety Years in the Galaxy ofthe Mind, in which, continuing her studies of the brain, she devises asystem of ethics for the new generations. Milan is only one of the cities in Italy which celebrated both herbirthday and new book. The Milanese newspaper, Corriere della Sera,carried an informative article, which was translated by Scottish-bornJoan Rundo, a Milanese bilingual translator: The walls of Milan are plastered with huge posters showing herdiaphanous and determined face. They announce the celebrations that areto be held in the city for a really special birthday, her ninetieth.Rita Levi Montalcini, Nobel Prize Winner for Medicine in 1986, was bornin Turin on April 22, 1909, but Milan will be celebrating the birthdayin advance, tomorrow and Saturday. Honours and events appear under theaegis of the association "Ten Nobels for the Future," whicheach year organizes meetings or projects on science, economics, ethics.This seventh edition is the first one to celebrate a birthday, and thefirst togive a present For Rita the present is the exhibition of an artistvery dear to her, her twin sister Paola. And the picture that Ritawanted on the cover of her new book, La Galassia Mente, which comes outon April 20, is by Paola, as was her previous book L'Asso NellaManica a Brandelli, a best-seller, a work on the potential of the brain. Rita Levi Montalcini's objective is not to disseminate purescientific knowledge. Along with the explanations of how neurons anddendrites function,-and, in the case of this book, how inorganic matterdeveloped into organic matter, and how the nervous system was born, upto the development of the human brain--there is a message which isessentially one of values, ethics. The chapters, as complex andfascinating as they are clear, describe the evolutionary process ofmillions of years, aims, and arrives at, the Cogito, Ergo Sum cogito, ergo sum(Latin; “I think, therefore I am”)Dictum coined in 1637 by René Descartes as a first step in demonstrating the attainability of certain knowledge. It is the only statement to survive the test of his methodic doubt. ofDescartes, and "man is only a reed, but a thinking reed" ofPascal. The still mysterious coupling of the brain and the mind isexplained to lay readers with the sole objective of reaching the heartof man and woman, illustrating their capacities of awareness and,therefore, of free will and responsibility. A brilliant example of this double path can be found in the pageson the "theory of the three brains," according to which ourskull contains the two brains, superimposed su��per��im��pose?tr.v. su��per��im��posed, su��per��im��pos��ing, su��per��im��pos��es1. To lay or place (something) on or over something else.2. in the course of time, whichwe have inherited from our reptile and mammalian ancestors, thenoverlapped and incorporated by a third brain, the typically humancortex. The explanation proceeds in neutral scientific terms, then we goon to read: "In periods of obscurantism ob��scur��ant��ism?n.1. The principles or practice of obscurants.2. A policy of withholding information from the public.3. a. , the reptile comes out ofits lair with a swastika on its claws." To understand Rita, who is Jewish, she emphasizes that biology andculture, including science, were, as is well known, affected by Nazismand its Italian version, the Racial Laws. And it was from a laboratoryset up in a kitchen, after having been expelled from the University ofTurin The University of Turin (Italian Universit�� degli Studi di Torino, UNITO) is a university in the city of Turin in the Piedmont region of north-western Italy. It has 12 faculties and 55 departments. , that she set out on her exceptional scaling of the heights ofresearch, climaxing with the Nobel Prize. But she does not talk aboutthis; that is the past. [ldots] On Saturday she will perhaps talk ofthis in the afternoon dedicated to her at the Conservatory of Milan. Thehost will be her fellow Nobel Prize Winner and lifelong friend, RenatoDulbecco. Rita will speak with Emma Bonino before the concert in herhonor, to be conducted by Accardo. "I have known Emma for sometime. I do not know what she will ask me," says the professor in agentle voice. "But I think that we will also talk about the War.For me, the Rainbow Operation (fund-raising campaign going on in Italyfor the Kosovo refugees) or the help is not enough. We h ave to havemass education of young people, even if I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed)"Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how." In 1993 Rita discovered, in a collection of letters from Bosnianchildren, a letter from a twelve-year-old girl, who wrote to thepersecuting Serbs: "My angry people must forgive me if I cannothate you, because I think that we twelve-year-olds have not yet falleninto the abyss of hatred."' Rita was very struck by thesewords. "I was able to have that little girl sought out by thejournalists there; they found her, she is the daughter of working-classpeople and now she is at Zagreb University. Her name is Tomana Grubesic.On May 3rd she will come to Rome for a scholarship from my Foundation,and on May 4th she will meet Rutelli, the mayor of Rome. I wanted her tobecome an emblem of the new generations. Without hatred." This theme is the focus of "Primo Levi's Message,"which forms the epilogue to Rita's autobiography, In Praise ofImperfection. Here she addresses her friend, a fellow Turinese, a manwithout hatred. She quotes his characteristic modest comment: "Ibeg the reader not to go looking for messages. It is a term which Iabhor because it puts me in crisis, because it dresses me in clotheswhich are not mine, which on the contrary belong to a human type whom Iview with distrust: the prophet, the bard, the soothsayer. That I amnot." [39] Rita replies: Today the terms message and messengers have lost their sacred auraand have acquired a human and secular dimension "And to her fellowscientist, the chemist, she adds: "they have come to be used alsoto indicate chemical agents that transmit information from one cell toanother. These "messages" [ldots] play a fundamental role inorganic processes and especially in those thought to be typical of thenervous system. Your message, Primo, which tens of thousands of readers received[ldots] [has an] extraordinary force [which] cannot be attributed eitherto a prophetic tone--which, in all instances, you disdainfully dis��dain��ful?adj.Expressive of disdain; scornful and contemptuous. See Synonyms at proud.dis��dainful��ly adv. avoid--orto the novelty of its content. Others before you have, and others afteryou will continue, to denounce the tragic consequences of servile ser��vile?adj.1. Abjectly submissive; slavish.2. a. Of or suitable to a slave or servant.b. Of or relating to servitude or forced labor. devotion, unconditioned unconditioned/un��con��di��tion��ed/ (un?kon-dish��und) not a result of conditioning; unlearned; occurring naturally or spontaneously. obedience, and supine acceptance of orders fromfanatical and paranoid leaders. But no one has ever done it with thesame suffered efficacy as you, with a more implacable analysis of thementality and motives that led criminals, such as the commandant atAuschwitz, to act as they did; or, at the same time, with a greaterdetachment and absence of hatred. [ldots] However, for the millions of individuals who [ldots] out ofcowardice collaborate with their executioners, there have been thousandsof others who throughout the ages have not surrendered--either in theface of torture or of death--and who have kept alive the fire of hopefor their comrades as well. You were one of them, Primo. You whoexplained to your young comrade Jean--who couldn't understandItalian and had been cast along with you into the inferno atAuschwitz--the meaning of Ulysses's admonition Any formal verbal statement made during a trial by a judge to advise and caution the jury on their duty as jurors, on the admissibility or nonadmissibility of evidence, or on the purpose for which any evidence admitted may be considered by them. , which sounded foryou like the very voice of God: Considerate la vostra semenza: Fatti no foste a viver come bruti. [40] [ldots] It is a message of hope, because whoever has voiced itwhile in the deepest despair, as were you, has kept intact the highestqualities of Homo sapiens-sapiens and come out of the most atrocious ofall experiences with an upright forehead and a spirit pure. [41] RUBY ROHRLICH, who died December 10, 1999, was a Research Professorin the Anthropology Department, George Washington University George Washington University,at Washington, D.C.; coeducational; chartered 1821 as Columbian College (one of the first nonsectarian colleges), opened 1822, became a university in 1873, renamed 1904. and Emerita e��mer��i��ta?adj.Retired but retaining an honorary title corresponding to that held immediately before retirement. Used of a woman: a professor emerita.n. pl. Professor of Anthropology, City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY; acronym: IPA pronunciation: [kjuni]), is the public university system of New York City. . Born inMontreal, Canada, she was author/editor of four books and a dozenarticles in the fields of anthropology, women's studies, and Jewishstudies. NOTES (1.) Rita Levi-Montalcini, In Praise of Imperfection: My Life andWork, translated by Luigi Attardi (New York New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : Basic Books, 1988), p. 28. (2.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 30. (3.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 21. (4.) Omni, March, 1988: 104. (5.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 30 (6.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 30. (7.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 4. (8.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 31. (9.) Michael O. Carroll, Madonnas That Maim: Popular Catholicism inItaly since the Fifteenth Century (Baltimore, MD: John HopkinsUniversity Press, 1992). Italians wove wove?v.Past tense of weave.woveVerba past tense of weavewove, woven weave an intricate pattern of ritualand belief around madonnas and saints in the attempt to gain controlover the many real dangers, such as plagues, famines, diseases,earthquakes, and floods, confronting them. The "dark side" ofItalian holiness was the willingness of these madonnas and saints, eventhe Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ, to maim, even to kill, in order tomaintain their own cults. (10.) In The Jews in Piedmont (Jerusalem: Israel Academy ofSciences and Humanities The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities , 1990), Renata Segre describes the constantattempts in Italy to baptize bap��tize?v. bap��tized, bap��tiz��ing, bap��tiz��esv.tr.1. To admit into Christianity by means of baptism.2. a. To cleanse or purify.b. To initiate.3. Jewish children, even two-year-old babies,by sprinkling water over them and uttering a few words that presumablyconverted them into Christians. This was done by priests and the laity,by adults and youngsters, and was not only condoned but encouraged bythe Inquisition, which sent constables to seize the children from theirparents. (11.) In Praise of Imperfection, pp. 23-24. (12.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 25. (13.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 34. (14.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 35. (15.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 38. (16.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 50. (17.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 59. (18.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 60. (19.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 62. (20.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 64. (21.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 80. (22.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 80. (23.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 95. (24.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 97. (25.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 101. (26.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 102. (27.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 103. (28.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 139. (29.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 138. (30.) James D. Watson James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA. Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the , The Donble Helix: A Personal Account of theDiscovery of the Structure of DNA (New York: Atheneum ath��e��nae��umalso ath��e��ne��um ?n.1. An institution, such as a literary club or scientific academy, for the promotion of learning.2. A place, such as a library, where printed materials are available for reading. , 1968). (31.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 143. (32.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 151. (33.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 163. (34.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 167. (35.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 196. (36.) In spite of these important contributions, it would have beenvery difficult for NGF research to continue in Italy had it not been forPietro Calissano and Luigi Aloe, who collaborated with Rita for overtwenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. in St. Louis and in Rome. During the second half of the1970s the CNR favored microbiology over neurobiology, especially infunding. Production in Rita's lab was quantitatively andqualitatively far inferior to that in other European and in Americanlabs where, increasingly, large, well-equipped teams of scientists werestudying NGF. The desire to work independently was much stronger inItaly than in the United States, and the group of researchers andtechnicians that Rita had put together was losing its members. Dr.Pietro Calissano, director of the Institute of Neurobiology, CNR, whom Iinterviewed in 1991, attributed this loss partially to the fact thatresearchers found Rita to be controlling, pressuring. Also, according toRuth Hogue Angeletti, American students were put off by Rita'soutbursts when they committed errors. Her tirades were undoubtedly farless ferocious than those of Giuseppe Levi, for example, which weremeekly accepted by male students. Calissano, Aloe and many others foundRita to be open, ethical, direct, honest, and the soul of generosity.But she preferred working in her lab to teaching and administration,particularly during a time when women science professors and directorsof scientific research were few in number and resented both in theUnited States and Italy. (37.) In Praise of Imperfection, p. 199. (38.) "Science vs. the Female Scientist," The New YorkTimes, 1/26/93. (39.) In Praise of Perfection, p. 212. Corriere della Sera, April15th, 1999. (40.) Take thought of the seed from which you spring You were notborn to live as brutes. (41.) In Praise of Imperfection, pp. 2 12-214.