Rita Levi-Montalcini Timeline

(April 22, 1909 – December 30, 2012)

Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909–2012) was an Italian neurologist and Nobel laureate renowned for her discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF), a breakthrough that transformed our understanding of cell growth. Despite facing persecution as a Jewish scientist under Fascist Italy, she continued her research in secret, later becoming one of the most influential figures in modern neuroscience and a lifelong advocate for science and women in research. More Less

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Early Life and Education

Family background

1900

Her parents were Adele Montalcini, a painter, and Adamo Levi, an electrical engineer and mathematician, whose families had moved from Asti and Casale Monferrato, respectively, to Turin at the turn of the twentieth century.

Image source: Rita Levi-Montalcini

Birth in Turin

Apr 22, 1909

Rita Levi-Montalcini was born on 22 April 1909 in Turin to Italian Jewish parents with roots dating back to the Roman Empire.

Family flees to Florence under false identities

Sep 1943 - Aug 1944

When Germany invaded Italy in September 1943, her family fled south to Florence, where they survived The Holocaust under false identities, protected by some non-Jewish friends. She later described this experience in the documentary film Death by Design: The Life and Times of Life and Times (1997).

Image source: The Holocaust in Italy

Volunteers medical expertise for Allied health service

Aug 1944

After the liberation of Florence in August 1944, she volunteered her medical expertise for the Allied health service, providing critical care to those injured during the war.

Brother Gino dies after heart attack

1974

Levi-Montalcini had an older brother, Gino, who died after a heart attack in 1974. She also had two sisters: Anna, five years older than Rita, and Paola, her twin sister, a popular artist.

Twin sister Paola dies

Sep 29, 2000

Her twin sister Paola, a popular artist, died on 29 September 2000, at age 91.

Image source: Paola Levi-Montalcini

Scientific Career and Research

Becomes assistant at the University of Turin

1936

In 1936, Levi-Montalcini remained at the university as an assistant, but her academic career was cut short by Benito Mussolini's 1938 Manifesto of Race and the subsequent introduction of laws barring Jews from academic and professional careers.

Returns to Turin and resumes research

1945

Upon returning to Turin in 1945, she resumed her research activities.

Image source: University of Turin

Research fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine

Sep 1946

In September 1946, Levi-Montalcini was granted a one-semester research fellowship in the laboratory of Professor Viktor Hamburger at Washington University School of Medicine; he was interested in two of the articles she had published in foreign scientific journals.

Image source: Washington University School of Medicine

Isolation of nerve growth factor (NGF)

1952

It was there that, in 1952, she did her most important work: isolating nerve growth factor (NGF) from observations of certain cancerous tissues that cause extremely rapid growth of nerve cells.

Image source: Nerve growth factor

Critical NGF experiment in Rio de Janeiro

1952

The critical experiment was done with Hertha Meyer at the Carlos Chagas Filho Biophysics Institute of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1952.

Image source: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

First definitive publication on NGF protein

1954

Their publication in 1954 became the first definitive indication of the protein. Her research led to the seminal publication 'In vitro experiments on the effects of mouse sarcomas 180 and 37 on the spinal and sympathetic ganglia of the chick embryo' in 1954, a foundational work in identifying and understanding nerve growth factor (NGF).

Appointed full professor

1958

She was made a full professor in 1958.

Directs Research Center of Neurobiology

1961 - 1969

From 1961 to 1969, she directed the Research Center of Neurobiology of the National Research Council, and from 1969 to 1978, the Laboratory of Cellular Biology.

Establishes second laboratory in Rome

1962

In 1962, she established a second laboratory in Rome and divided her time between there and St. Louis.

Image source: Rome

Supports the drug Cronassial

1975

Beginning in 1975, she supported the drug Cronassial (a particular mixture of gangliosides) produced by Fidia from bovine brain tissue.

Image source: Rita Levi-Montalcini

Retirement and appointment as institute director

1977 - 1979

After she retired in 1977, she was appointed as director of the Institute of Cell Biology of the Italian National Council of Research in Rome. She retired from that position in 1979 but continued to be involved as a guest professor.

Germany bans Cronassial

1983

As per the normal cautionary routine, Germany banned Cronassial in 1983, followed by other countries.

Italy prohibits Cronassial amid investigation

1993

Italy prohibited the drug only in 1993; at the same time, an investigation revealed that Fidia paid the Italian Ministry of Health for a quick approval of Cronassial and later paid for pushing the use of the drug in the treatment of diseases where it had not been tested.

Identifies palmitoylethanolamide as cellular modulator

1993

In the same period (1993), she identified the endogenous compound palmitoylethanolamide as an important modulator of this cell.

Founds European Brain Research Institute

2002

Levi-Montalcini founded the European Brain Research Institute in 2002, and then served as its president.

Criticism over role at European Brain Research Institute

2010

Her role in the European Brain Research Institute was at the centre of some criticism from some parts of the scientific community in 2010.

Honors and Recognition

First woman to receive Max Weinstein Award

1963

In 1963, she became the first woman to receive the Max Weinstein Award (given by the United Cerebral Palsy Association) due to her significant contributions to neurological research.

Awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

1986

Levi-Montalcini earned the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with colleague Stanley Cohen for the discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF).

Image source: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Appears in documentary Death by Design

1997

She described her wartime experience decades later in the science documentary film Death by Design: The Life and Times of Life and Times (1997).

Later Life and Legacy

Appointed senator for life

Aug 1, 2001 - Dec 30, 2012

On 1 August 2001, she was appointed as senator for life by the President of Italy, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. From 2001 until her death, she served in the Italian Senate.

Image source: Senate of the Republic (Italy)

Guest at Villa del Vascello science and peace event

Sep 21, 2002

Gustavo Raffi, Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Italy, recalled his feelings of friendship and sincere dialogue with her, noting that she was a guest at Villa del Vascello on 21 September 2002, together with Rigoberta Menchú, to talk about science and peace in the service of mankind.

Image source: Grand Orient of Italy

Files libel suit against Beppe Grillo

2003

In 2003, she filed a libel suit for defamation against Beppe Grillo.

Image source: Beppe Grillo

Attends opening assembly of newly elected Senate

Apr 28, 2006 - Apr 29, 2006

On 28–29 April 2006, Levi-Montalcini, aged 97, attended the opening assembly of the newly elected Senate, at which the President of the Senate was elected. In a 2006 interview, she said, 'I never had any hesitation or regrets in this sense...'

Celebrates 100th birthday at Rome's City Hall

Apr 22, 2009

On 22 April 2009, she became the first Nobel laureate to reach the age of 100, and the event was feted with a party at Rome's City Hall.

Dies in Rome at age 103

Dec 30, 2012

Levi-Montalcini died in her home in Rome on 30 December 2012 at the age of 103.

Orchid hybrid named in her honor

Apr 2016

In April 2016, a spontaneous orchid (a hybrid between Ophrys incubacea and Ophrys sphegodes subsp. ...) was named in connection with her legacy.

Image source: Ophrys sphegodes

Key Facts

Rita Levi-Montalcini was born in Turin, Italy, on April 22, 1909, to a Jewish family, and overcame her father's objections to pursue a medical degree at the University of Turin.
During World War II, after Jews were banned from academic and professional life by Fascist racial laws, she set up a secret laboratory in her bedroom to study embryonic development in chicks.
In the 1950s, working with biochemist Stanley Cohen at Washington University in St. Louis, she discovered nerve growth factor (NGF), the first growth factor ever identified.
She shared the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Stanley Cohen for their discoveries of growth factors.
In 2001, she was appointed Senator for Life in the Italian Senate, becoming the first Nobel laureate to receive this honor, and she founded the European Brain Research Institute in Rome.

Source

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