Luigi Castaldi

February 14, 1890 (age 55)

Pistoia, Toscana, Italy

After graduating in 1914, Castaldi became a physician at the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital in Florence, before serving as an army medical officer in the war against Austria. In 1919 he was appointed assistant at the Institute of Human Anatomy of Florence, where Giulio Chiarugi was a director and where he had worked while a student. In 1922 he began to teach human anatomy and in 1923 was named professor of human anatomy at the University of Perugia. Castaldi began his scientific activity as a histologist with a systematic study of the comiective tissue of the liver, “II connettivo nel fegato dei Vertebrati” (1920), a work based on the microscopical examination of the liver of forty-one species (including man) and developed through the critical revision of an extensive bibliography (300 works). This book was used as a text for some years because of its illustrations of the capillaries of the liver. Even in neurology, with his work on the mesencephalon (1922-1928), Castaldi paid homage to more traditional descriptive morphology. Castaldi’s presented the most precise and documented work on the structure of the mesencephalon then known. He also carried out remarkable experimental work on the influence of the endocrine gland on morphogenesis. Working from the demonstrated role of iodine deficiency in cretinism and goiter, from 1920 to 1928 Castaldi studied the histology of human thyroid glands from areas where goiter occurred and from those where it did not. Thus he confirmed the strict relationship between the iodine content of the thyroid and its activity and established its influence on the development and height of a man. Castaldi also studied the physiology of the adrenal cortex. From 1924 to 1926 he analyzed the effects on very young animals of dried, salted adrenal cortex taken from an ox and administered with the food. He thereby confirmed that the adrenal cortex can stimulate the growth of the muscular and skeletal systems. Using the biostatistical methods of Adolphe Quetelet and Francis Galton, Castaldi in 1923 began his work on biometrical evaluation in man with the study of the weights of thymus glands in relation to age, sex, body weight, and height. In 1924 he repeated this research on ovaries and in 1927 extended the same study to the principal organs (heart, lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys, encephalon, thyroid, thymus, adrenals, hypophysis, testes, ovaries) of 300 corpses of both sexes and all ages. Castaldi was appointed a professor of anatomy at the University of Cagliari in 1926 and was kept there, against his wishes, until 1943 because he was at odds with the Fascist government. After Mussolini’s fall, he obtained a transfer to the University of Genoa, but the political and military situation obliged him to remain in Florence, where he died after a long illness, on June 12, 1945.

Luigi Castaldi

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anatomist scientist

Background

Castaldi was born on February 14, 1890, in Pistoia, Italy, the son of Vittorio Castaldi, an army officer, and of Vincenza Giovacchini-Rosati.

Education

Castaldi attended school in Pistoia and then studied medicine in Florence, graduating in 1914.

Career

After graduating in 1914, Castaldi became a physician at the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital in Florence, before serving as an army medical officer in the war against Austria. In 1919 he was appointed assistant at the Institute of Human Anatomy of Florence, where Giulio Chiarugi was a director and where he had worked while a student. In 1922 he began to teach human anatomy and in 1923 was named professor of human anatomy at the University of Perugia.

Castaldi began his scientific activity as a histologist with a systematic study of the comiective tissue of the liver, “II connettivo nel fegato dei Vertebrati” (1920), a work based on the microscopical examination of the liver of forty-one species (including man) and developed through the critical revision of an extensive bibliography (300 works). This book was used as a text for some years because of its illustrations of the capillaries of the liver. Even in neurology, with his work on the mesencephalon (1922-1928), Castaldi paid homage to more traditional descriptive morphology. Castaldi’s presented the most precise and documented work on the structure of the mesencephalon then known. He also carried out remarkable experimental work on the influence of the endocrine gland on morphogenesis. Working from the demonstrated role of iodine deficiency in cretinism and goiter, from 1920 to 1928 Castaldi studied the histology of human thyroid glands from areas where goiter occurred and from those where it did not. Thus he confirmed the strict relationship between the iodine content of the thyroid and its activity and established its influence on the development and height of a man.

Castaldi also studied the physiology of the adrenal cortex. From 1924 to 1926 he analyzed the effects on very young animals of dried, salted adrenal cortex taken from an ox and administered with the food. He thereby confirmed that the adrenal cortex can stimulate the growth of the muscular and skeletal systems. Using the biostatistical methods of Adolphe Quetelet and Francis Galton, Castaldi in 1923 began his work on biometrical evaluation in man with the study of the weights of thymus glands in relation to age, sex, body weight, and height. In 1924 he repeated this research on ovaries and in 1927 extended the same study to the principal organs (heart, lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys, encephalon, thyroid, thymus, adrenals, hypophysis, testes, ovaries) of 300 corpses of both sexes and all ages.

Castaldi was appointed a professor of anatomy at the University of Cagliari in 1926 and was kept there, against his wishes, until 1943 because he was at odds with the Fascist government. After Mussolini’s fall, he obtained a transfer to the University of Genoa, but the political and military situation obliged him to remain in Florence, where he died after a long illness, on June 12, 1945.

Achievements

Castaldi is best known for his contribution to the field of anatomy, publishing many books with his studies. These publications were awarded with several prestigious national and international prizes.

Connections

Father:: Vittorio Castaldi
Mother:: Vincenza Giovacchini-Rosati

References

Dictionary of Scientific Biography Volume 3
1971

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Luigi Castaldi

Background

Education

Career

Achievements

Connections

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Born

Died

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Career

1914 - 1919

1923 - 1926

1926 - 1943

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