The rise and fall of Golgi's school

Abstract

The Camillo Golgi's school of Histology and General Pathology in Pavia played an important role in the development of medical-biological studies in Italy in the period after Unification of the state. Founded around 1880 when Golgi (1843–1926) began to wield power at the University of Pavia, the school soon became famous for the distinctive morphological basis of its studies. Many of its staff members made important discoveries and won international acclaim. The school however went into decline after 1910 because of its rigid adherence to the morphological approach that had characterized its golden years at a time when the international scientific world was developing other fundamental methodological criteria for medical–biological studies.