Giuseppe Moruzzi: A tribute to a “formidable” scientist and a “formidable” man

Abstract

Giuseppe Moruzzi was born one century ago; he was an outstanding Italian neurophysiologist, who was particularly famous for his contributions to the study of the mechanisms underlying the control of the sleep–waking cycle in mammals. In 1990, Rita Levi-Montalcini, Moruzzi's great friend and admirer, used the occasion of an invitation by the University of Parma, where Moruzzi graduated in medicine in 1933, to celebrate Moruzzi's scientific achievements. She wished to pay a tribute to Moruzzi's human and ethical qualities by portraying him as a “perfect model” for the young generation wishing to pursue scientific research. The transcription of “Rita's” tribute to Moruzzi links two of the greatest figures of Italian neuroscience and also provides a lively account of how the personal histories of two promising young scientists intertwined with the great and tragic events of world history in the past century.