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many odds. Girls at that time were not encouraged to study science. Once she secured her father’s permission to attend medical school, Rita Levi-Montalcini As a Jewish girl born in Turin, Italy, in 1909, Rita Levi-Montalcini faced Italy’s Fascist regime during World War II limited the rights of Jews to pursue many activities, including studying at universities. Her research on growing nervous system cells in the embryo was begun in secret in Fascist Italy and carried on at Washington University, St. Louis, after the war. In 1986, Levi-Montalcini and her collaborator, Stanley Cohen, shared the Nobel Prize for Science and Medicine. Her discovery of nerve growth factor revolutionized the understanding of nervous system development and has many ramifications for modern medicine. SUSAN TYLER HITCHCOCK holds Karen Horney: Pioneer of Feminine Psychology Mathilde Krim and the Story of AIDS Elisabeth Kübler-Ross: Encountering Death and Dying Mary Eliza Mahoney and the Legacy of African-American Nurses Margaret Sanger: Rebel for Women’s Rights www.chelseahouse.com ISBN 0-7910-8028-5 UPC EAN ,!7IA7J1-aiacid!:t;K;k;K;k *53849-AIACIc Hitchcock a B.A. and M.A. in English from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Virginia. She also has written Karen Horney: Pioneer of Feminine Psychology in the WOMEN IN MEDICINE series, and Sylvia Earle: Deep Sea Explorer for the WOMEN EXPLORERS series. Other titles in the series include: Rita Levi-Montalcini Nobel Prize Winner Women in Medicine Karen Horney Pioneer of Feminine Psychology Mathilde Krim and the Story of AIDS Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Encountering Death and Dying Rita Levi-Montalcini Nobel Prize Winner Mary Eliza Mahoney and the Legacy of African-American Nurses Margaret Sanger Rebel for Women’s Rights Rita Levi-Montalcini Nobel Prize Winner Susan Tyler Hitchcock COVER: Rita Levi-Montalcini, in her laboratory at Washington University, in St. Louis, 1963. Rita left Italy for St. Louis in 1946 at the invitation of Viktor Hamburger, for what she thought would be a six- to nine-month research assignment. Rita, however, remained in the United States for many years, doing research that led to the discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF), which eventually earned her a Nobel Prize. CHELSEA HOUSE PUBLISHERS VP, NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Sally Cheney DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION Kim Shinners CREATIVE MANAGER Takeshi Takahashi MANUFACTURING MANAGER Diann Grasse Staff for RITA LEVI-MONTALCINI EXECUTIVE EDITOR Lee M. Marcott PHOTO EDITOR Sarah Bloom PRODUCTION EDITOR Noelle Nardone SERIES & COVER DESIGNER Takeshi Takahashi LAYOUT 21st Century Publishing and Communications, Inc. ©2005 by Chelsea House Publishers, a subsidiary of Haights Cross Communications. All rights reserved. Printed and bound in the United States of America. http://www.chelseahouse.com First Printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hitchcock, Susan Tyler. Rita Levi-Montalcini /Susan Tyler Hitchcock. p. cm.—(Women in medicine) ISBN 0-7910-8028-5 1. Levi-Montalcini, Rita. 2. Neurologists—Biography. 3. Developmental neurobiology. 4. Nerve growth factor. 5. Nobel Prizes. I. Title. II. Series. RC339.52.L48H54 2004 616.8'092—dc22 2004006050 All links and web addresses were checked and verified to be correct at the time of publication. Because of the dynamic nature of the web, some addresses and links may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. Table of Contents 1. Science in Hiding 2. Growing Up in Turin 1 11 1909 – 1929 3. A Budding Scientist 22 1930 – 1934 4. Suppressed Science in a Fascist