BEGINNINGS AND BRIEF SYNOPSIS
I was born in Palermo on April 30, 1919, an only child to a mother deeply involved in literature and literary activities and a father devoted to ranching, vine growing, and wine making. My high school education had a literary and classical orientation, and my ambition was to enter the study of medicine. I graduated in 1942 summa cum laude from the University of Palermo Medical School with a thesis in pediatrics and spent my postgraduate years and time as assistant professor of pediatrics (1942ยฑ1962) at the Children's Hospital in Palermo, attaining the rank of libero docente (university lecturer) in 1948.
In November 1962, I became chair of pediatrics at the University of Perugia and directed its pediatric clinic until January 1966. Since then I became chair of pediatrics at the University of Pavia until October 1989. After attaining emeritus status, I remained a professor of pediatrics in Pavia. Over 27 years of teaching, I was privileged to train many students, 5 of whom are now chairs of pediatrics (in Brescia, Pavia, Perugia, and Varese) and 10 of whom became directors of pediatrics or pediatricians in chief in major hospitals. My major ยฎelds of interest and research were immunology and immunobiology.