[The teaching of microbiology in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Rome. Memories of the Institute]

Abstract

The Author describes the various phases of the teaching of microbiology in the Faculty of Medicine of the University, of Rome, from the unity of Italy to the end of the twentieth century. A regular course of Bacteriology was started only in the academic year 1905/1906 as separate teaching from that of Hygiene and the Institute of Bacteriology was created in 1924. It was centered in Piazza del Viminale in Rome, in the same building as the Institute of Hygiene. Prof Vittorio Puntoni was the first Director of the Institute, also in its new site of the Città Universitaria which was inaugurated in 1935. In the meantime the old name of Bacteriology was changed to Microbiology and prof Puntoni remained as Director until 1943. The bombing during the war produced heavy damage to the new Institute and with the appointment of prof Aldo Cimmino as a new Director in 1946 the Institute of Microbiology began a long period of reconstruction and development. An astonishing improvement was achieved in the availability of human and technical resources, many groups of research workers were created and several pupils became professor of Microbiology in different Italian Universities. In 1981 prof Cimmino definitely retired, leaving, the teaching of Microbiology in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Rome "La Sapienza" to five of his pupils. One of them, prof Garaci, a few years later passed to the new University of Rome "Tor Vergata", becoming also Rector. The other four professor (Orsi, Filadoro, Pezzi, del Piano) continued their teaching in the successive years, with the collaboration of several associate professors, whose status was created by the law 382 in 1980. A later law on the short degree course required also the official participation of many researchers to the new teaching. Finally in 2001 the official activity of the Institute of Microbiology ceased and was incorporated in the Department of Public Health Sciences.