Ettore Marchiafava belongs to the medical record as a figure whose work changed what could be treated.
The record lists Ettore Marchiafava as Italian physician, microbiologist and politician (1847-1935).
Ettore Marchiafava was born at Rome in 1847. His recorded nationality is Italy. He trained at Sapienza University of Rome.
Anaesthesia, antisepsis and germ theory arrived within fifty years and made modern surgery possible for the first time.
His posts were held at Sapienza University of Rome and ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia.
The recorded fields of work are pathology and infectious diseases.
Medicine advances against a moving target, and its successes are counted in lives rather than papers.
Recognition followed: Manson Medal (1926).
That the work was done from Italy matters: hospitals, training and research funding are unevenly distributed, and they decide which questions can be asked.
Ettore Marchiafava died in 1935, aged 88. What survives is the change in practice, which is how a medical life is actually measured.
Achievements
- Manson Medal — 1926
- Held posts at Sapienza University of Rome and ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia
- Fields: pathology and infectious diseases
