Giulio Bizzozero and Aldo Perroncito

Abstract

In the second half of the 19th century, Giulio Bizzozero was the central figure of the modernization of biomedical studies in Turin, and perhaps in Italy. He made discoveries with remarkable medical implications and published research papers that gained international praise. By doing so, Bizzozero could withstand the attacks of the local medical hierarchies and succeed in establishing a new medical philosophy and a prolific school of experimental and cellular pathology. He published only two coauthored papers on nerves, yet exerted a considerable influence on the neurohistological works of his students and collaborators, including Camillo Golgi and his grandnephew Aldo Perroncito. This chapter will first illustrate Bizzozero’s efforts to reform medical research and education in Turin, and then briefly sketch his main scientific achievements. The second part describes Perroncito’s groundbreaking investigations of the regeneration of the peripheral nerve fibers.