10.4081/btvb.2023.110
In memoriam of Professor Bruno Bizzi (1927-2023)
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2785-5309
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Valerio De Stefano
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Bleeding, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology
Bruno Bizzi
In memoriam of Professor Bruno Bizzi (1927-2023)
Text.Serial.Journal
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Remembrances
2024-01-11
2024-01-09
2023-10-01
2024-01-11
Bleed Thromb Vascul Biol
Valerio De Stefano
2023
10.4081/btvb.2023.110
Section of Hematology, Department of Radiological and Hematological Sciences, Catholic University, Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli IRCCS, Rome
2785-5309
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Bruno Bizzi
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In memoriam of Professor Bruno Bizzi (1927-2023)
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                                                                                                             REMEMBRANCE

In memoriam
Professor Bruno Bizzi (1927-2023)
Valerio De Stefano

Section of Hematology, Department of Radiological and Hematological Sciences, Catholic University, Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli
IRCCS, Rome, Italy




    It is with great sadness that I inform our community of the
passing of Professor Bruno Bizzi on October 14, 2023.
    Born in Milan in 1927, he graduated there in 1952. In 1955,
he followed his teacher, Professor Raffaello Breda to Sassari in
Sardinia. In 1960, he held with Professor Breda the report on
“Open problems and advances in anticoagulant treatments” at
the 17th Congress of the Italian Society of Hematology, estab-




                                                                                                      ly
lishing the continuous exchange with the hematology that has
accompanied him throughout his career.




                                                                                             on
    In 1965, he took service at the Faculty of Medicine and Sur-
gery of the Catholic University in Rome. In the memories of the
students in those years, the visit, starting at 9.00 sharply, to the




                                                                                        e
patients admitted to the ward was followed by a first stop at hos-
pital cafeteria and a second in the hemostasis laboratory, an ef-
fective and symbolic demonstration of the close and indissoluble
interdependence of that discipline, between the clinic and the
                                                                                 us
                                                                            al
laboratory, always in a friendly atmosphere.
    In 1971, he became chief of the Division of Hematology. In
                                                                  ci

1972, he was the co-speaker with Professor Breda at the 73rd
Congress of the Italian Society of Internal Medicine on the
                                                                er


theme “Fibrinolysis in the Internal Medicine,” with the collab-             Prof. Bruno Bizzi.
oration of many fellows (Accorrà, de Gaetano, Donati, Fais,
                                                               m




Leone, Musumeci). This was one of the first times that young
                                                    om




researchers were called to collaborate on a master reading of this
type. He was one of the first to understand the possibilities of
fibrinolytic agents in arterial thrombosis and pulmonary em-
                                             -c




bolism and was the first in Europe to experiment in both venous
                                    on




  Correspondence: Valerio De Stefano, Section of Hematology, De-
                              N




  partment of Radiological and Hematological Sciences, Catholic
  University, Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy

  Received: 9 January 2024.
  Accepted: 9 January 2024.

  Publisher’s note: all claims expressed in this article are solely those
  of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affili-
  ated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the re-
  viewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim
  that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed
  by the publisher.

  ©
   Copyright: the Author(s), 2023
  Licensee PAGEPress, Italy
  Bleeding, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology 2023; 2:110
  doi:10.4081/btvb.2023.110

  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
  NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
                                                                            Prof. Bizzi and Prof. Breda, Rome, September 1968.


                                              Bleeding, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology 2023; 2:110
                                           In memoriam of Prof. Bruno Bizzi (1927-2023)                                           67



                                                                    and arterial thromboses urokinase by associating it with heparin.
                                                                    In November 1980, he was appointed full Professor of Medical
                                                                    Therapeutics, keeping his position initially in the Faculty of
                                                                    Medicine and Surgery of Naples and afterward in the Faculty of
                                                                    Medicine at the Catholic University in Rome, where has held
                                                                    the chair of Medical Semeiotics and then of Medical Pathology
                                                                    until his retirement in 1999.
                                                                         He was a pioneer in hemostasis and thrombosis studies in
                                                                    Italy, with significant contributions to the development of this
                                                                    discipline through his research on the pathophysiology of he-
                                                                    mostasis, fibrinolysis, and hemorrhagic and thrombotic diseases
                                                                    since the late Fifties and then throughout his career. He was
                                                                    among the generation of internists who played a crucial role in
                                                                    the flourishing and growth of medical specialties, specifically
                                                                    hematology.
                                                                         I can personally attest to his great trust in young people,
                                                                    who enjoyed incredible autonomy and freedom of research in
                                                                    his Institute. He provided means and opportunities with great




                                                                                      ly
                                                                    generosity, allowing the development of roads that did not nec-




                                                                              on
                                                                    essarily coincide with his most prominent scientific interests.
                                                                    These liberal qualities were accompanied by an extremely
                                                                    pleasant and courteous human trait. The aphorism of Gibran




                                                                        e
                                                                    perfectly captures his character: The teacher who is indeed wise
                                                                    does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather
                                                                  usleads you to the threshold of your mind. Among his students,
                                                                    he accompanied Giovanni de Gaetano, Maria Benedetta Donati,
                                                                    Raffaele Landolfi, Giuseppe Leone, and myself on the threshold
                                                           al
Cover of the book “La fibrinolisi in medicina interna”.
                                                                    of our minds.
                                                ci
                                              er
                                             m
                                    om
                              -c
                       on
                  N




                                      Bleeding, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology 2023; 2:110
