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Gabriel Andral (1797-1876) was one of the most emblematic exponent of the French medical revolution of the 19th century and the undisputed father of modern hematology. He spent most of his adolescence in Italy because his father, Guillaume Andral, was a military doctor who became the personal physician of Murat in Naples. Although he lived in Italy just for a few years before going back to France and graduating in Paris, he indeed kept in touch with our Country and strongly affected Italian medicine. As a matter of fact, many of his works were translated into Italian and he soon became well known in the peninsula, playing an important role in the next Italian medical progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the centennial of William Osler's death approaching, this paper aims to focus on his contributions to medical history, his ideas about the relevance of this discipline and, last but not least, his involvement in some early projects for the foundation of our Society. Osler (1849-1919) is regarded unanimously as one of the most influential figures of 20th century medicine, not only in the Anglo-Saxon context but worldwide. Osler was not a professional historian, nor was he merely a physician interested in the history of medicine in an amateurish way. He was deeply convinced of the importance of this discipline for the education of medical students and, even more, for the continuing "inspiration" of health professionals, such as physicians, nurses, health managers). This is probably why his library (the famous Bibliotheca Osleriana at McGill University in Montreal) continues to be accessed and perused, and his historical essays and addresses continue to be read, enjoyed and quoted with enthusiasm. This is also probably why, according to some documents recently discovered by the author in the archives of the Osler Library, someone in 1913 thought of him as the perfect candidate for first President of the still-to-be-founded International Society for the History of Medicine. After one hundred years, Osler can still provide much food for thought to all interested in medical history and in the future of the ISHM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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News o f the invention o f the stethoscope by Laennec in 1816 and o f positive reception o f this instrument by French medicài community reached Italy very soon, even before the publication o f the first edition o f the Traite de l'Auscultation médiate ( 1819). But initial curiosity and enthusiasm aroused by the new medical tool in many Italian universities, rapidly faded away, probably due to the lack o f expert guides and o f the patience needed by the initial training in mediated auscultation. In the mid-1820s, while old physicians and professors put aside the wooden chest-explorer as useless, a new generation o f young physicians - some o f them still in their medical studies - gave a new start to the Italian interest for Laennec's tube and, also by means o f technical ameliorations o f the instrument, contributed to definitively set the stethoscope as an essential aid for diagnosis o f chest diseases in our Country'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luigi Carlo Farini (1812-1866) was one of the leading figures in the Italian unification, the Risorgimento. As a physician he always took care of the health problems of its people with a broadminded attitude, promoting for example extensive campaigns of Jennerian vaccination or experimenting the effects of electricity on tetanus. As a political leader - he was proclaimed "Dictator" in 1859 - he made possible the annexation of the Adriatic regions of Emilia and Romagna to the Kingdom of Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy that later, in March 1861, was to become the new Kingdom of Italy. This article, in connection with the project "Himetop - The History of Medicine Topographical Database", offers a brief photographic survey of the location and condition of the monuments and memories of the physician-dictator in his homeland, two hundred years after his birth. Not only the tormented history of his monument in Ravenna, but also his birthplace, hospital, tomb, etc., testify that Farini's memory is well preserved among the people he served as a physician and as a statesman. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many Italian physicians played a more or less relevant role in the military, social and political events which paved the way to and accompanied the birth of the unitary State, which 150th anniversary falls in 2011, but probably just one of them, Guido Baccelli (1832-1916), left so many traces in the very landscape of the present-day Italian capital. Even if the millions of tourists pouring into Rome every year are not aware of it, the vision and tenacity of this celebrated physician lay behind quite a lot of the most typical and popular places of the Eternal City. Baccelli, as a politician, took care of his home town with the same kindness and effectiveness he put, as a physician, in the care of the sick. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of Himetop or The History of Medicine Topographical Database, a Web 2.0 project developed by the Institute of Philosophy of Scientific and Technological Activity (FAST) at the Campus Bio-Medico University in Rome. Historical figures, such as William Henry Welch and Harvey Cushing, have always emphasized the relevance of history to the future of human health. The advent of Web 2.0, according to the author, significantly improved medical literature. She describes the historical development of Himetop, along with the relevance of such database to medical history documentation.

A 2014 American-German war movie directed by and starring George Clooney (Actor, Screenwriter, Film Director, and Producer; Los Angeles, California and Laglio, Italy) (1961-current) popularized the work of a special United States Army unit devoted to the rescue of art treasures stolen or hidden by the Nazis during World War II. A similar story occurred in Paris to a curious little monument closely linked to the history of Anesthesia. This happened about 70 years ago, in December 1944. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]