A tribute to Rita Levi Montalcini

I once wrote about her in 2009.

Nobel prize winner Rita Levi Montalcini passed away yesterday at age 103. 

Aside from her ever-famous quote that I held on to during difficult moments of my life, she is a woman who was way ahead of her time. 

While every girl was a wife and a mother, she became a doctor. And a scientist to boot with a Nobel prize tucked under her belt. 

I am saddened by the news that today, we lost a great woman. But with all her achievements and at 103, she must have lived a very full life. 

Hats off to you, Rita. All my respect. Thank you for the inspiration. Thank you for the encouraging words of wisdom.

Sharing with you the article from I Fucking Love Science: 


"Today we say goodbye to Nobel prize winner Rita Levi-Montalcini, who passed away today aged 103.

Levi-Montalcini enrolled in medical school in 1930 despite her father's objections (who believed that the role of a woman was to be a wife and mother, not an academic). She earned a degree in medicine and surgery, but her post-graduate career was cut short when Mussolini issued his "Manifesto of Race" which barred those of Jewish descent from professional careers. Rather than fleeing the country, Levi-Montalcini chose to stay in Italy and continue her work alone. She built a small research unit at her home and installed it in her bedroom.

She spent time on her research and as a physician during the war, and then returned to academic life afterwards. In 1947 she joined Washington University and became a full professor there in 1958. In 1962 she established a research unit in Rome, splitting her time between there and St. Louis, and in 1969 she became the Director of the Institute of Cell Biology of the Italian National Council of Research.

In 1986, Levi-Montalcini and Stanley Cohen were awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for isolating Nerve Growth Factor from tumor cells.

Although she officially retired in 1977, she never truly stopped working as a scientist or an educator. Eight years ago she founded the European Brain Research Institute (EBRI) in Rome. She (with her sister Paola) also founded the Rita Levi-Montalcini Foundation, which focuses on the education of girls and young women in Africa. In 2001 she was appointed an Italian Senator-for-life.

Levi-Montalcini was truly an inspiring woman and she will be greatly missed."

Watch an interview with Levi-Montalcini here: http://bit.ly/ZMklM3
Read more about her life and work here: http://bit.ly/12QFbs8