Rita Levi-Montalcini Discovered The Nerve Growth Factor In Her Bedroom
Levi-Montalcini (22 April 1909 – 30 December 2012) was, the third woman in history to be awarded a Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology, and yet still virtually unknown.
Never underestimate the mind of a brilliant woman. After losing her position at the university's anatomy department in 1938, Rita Levi-Montalcini set up a laboratory in her room. She decided not to give up on her studies of the growth of nerve fibers in chicken embryos, and continued researching them at home.
Levi-Montalcini's continued studies led to her discovery of nerve growth factor (the protein that causes nerves to grow). She then won a Nobel Prize for her discovery in 1986. It just goes to show that you should never give up on your dreams no matter what challenges get in the way.
An Italian Nobel laureate, honored for her work in neurobiology. She was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with colleague Stanley Cohen for the discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF). From 2001 until her death, she also served in the Italian Senate as a Senator for Life. This honor was given due to her significant scientific contributions. On 22 April 2009, she became the first Nobel laureate to reach the age of 100, and the event was feted with a party at Rome's City Hall
Early Education:
Levi-Montalcini was born on 22 April 1909 in Turin, to Italian Jewish parents with roots dating back to the Roman Empire. She and her twin sister Paola were the youngest of four children. Her parents were Adele Montalcini, a painter, and Adamo Levi, an electrical engineer and mathematician, whose families had moved from Asti and Casale Monferrato, respectively, to Turin at the turn of the twentieth century.
In her teenage years, she considered becoming a writer and admired Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf, but after seeing a close family friend die of stomach cancer she decided to attend the University of Turin Medical School. Her father discouraged his daughters from attending college, as he feared it would disrupt their potential lives as wives and mothers, but eventually he supported Levi-Montalcini's aspirations to become a doctor. While at the University of Turin, the neurohistologist Giuseppe Levi sparked her interest in the developing nervous system. After graduating summa cum laude M.D. in 1936, she didn't attend any master (because the Italian degree was equivalent to it) nor a PhD as it was not contemplated by the Italian high educational system (which, on the other hand, was very selective). Montalcini remained at the university as Levi's assistant, but her academic career was cut short by Benito Mussolini's 1938 Manifesto of Race and the subsequent introduction of laws barring Jews from academic and professional careers.
All the information we need to solve this puzzle is on this page:
N 43° 37.AB' W 72° 19.4C5'
Month Born =A
Year won the Nobel Peace Prize minus 1913=B
Died at age 10C
