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Alberto Monroy 1913–1986
('ell D~/ji.rentiatio~i, 2(I (1987) 1, 2
1
Elscvicr Scientific Publishers Ireland. L i d
CDF 00415
Alberto Monroy 1913 1986
Alberto Monroy passed away on 24 August 1986 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, at the age of 73. Could he have chosen the place of his last day, ! am sure he would have selected Woods Hole, so much did he love that place which reflects the essence of his idea of biology. One of his main characteristics was communicativeness. He believed in the primary importance of international exchange of scientific ideas for the progress of science. He pursued this goal so well with his charming, acute and enthusiastic conversation that
he was certainly one of the best known and best informed developmental biologists. His interest in embryology started when he was a student with Otto Mangold in Germany. He was Associate Professor of Human Anatomy at the University of Palermo when he flew on a precarious aircraft to the Zoological Station of Naples in 1944 to meet with the international biological community of that time, establishing contacts with J. Runnstr/Sm, M.H.F. Wilkins, G. Levi and many others. He was one of the first to understand that
0045 6039/87/$03.50 v, 1987 Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland, L t d
the key to embryological problems would be found in chemistry and soon became a pioneer in the field of chemical embryology. In 1948 he worked at the Wenner Gren Institute in Stockholm. In 1949 he visited the United States for the first time, working in collaboration with A. Mirsky, meeting P. Weiss and D. Mazia. He also visited Woods Hole, where he would then return ahnost every summer for the next thirty years, becoming first a Member of the Corporation, then a Trustee, and eventually an Emeritus. Back in Italy Alberto Monroy became, in 1952, Professor of Comparative Anatomy at the University of Palermo and founded there a lively, internationally oriented school of embryology. Soon he was also appointed Dean of the Faculty. fie was fascinated by the problem of fertilization. In the early fifties he attacked it with radioisotopic tracers, demonstrating together with A. Tyler that the development of a K* conductance is one of the first events in sea urchin fertilization. He was among the first to discover that fertilization highly enhances the synthesis of proteins in the sea urchin egg. A few years later, again in collaboration with A. Tyler, he was the first to show that this is due to the increase of the polysome proportion in the fertilized egg. His theory that some proteic factor may block polysome formation before fertilization, supported by experimental evidence, stimulated active discussion and a series of experiments in many laboratories. For these important contributions he received an honorary degree at the University of Chicago in 1967 and the A. Brachet Prize in 1975. He also became a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Alberto Monroy was a prolific and very clear writer. His first book "Chemistry and Physiology of Fertilization", published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in 1965, was translated into several languages, including Russian and Japanese, not only because of his descriptive ability but also because of his stimulating ideas about the general meaning of the described phenomena in the biological problematics. Two more books on fertilization, written in collaboration with C.B. Metz, were published by Academic Press in 1967 and 1985. But what probably reflects best both his eclectic ability to dwell on disparate biological problems and his profound culture is the series "Current Topics
in Developmental Biology" that he edited together with A. Moscona for Academic Press. In 1969 his eagerness for new scientific enterprises brought him back to Naples where he founded the Laboratory of Molecular Embryology of the National Research Council. He then became the Director of the Zoological Station of Naples which had been so much part of his scientific formation and to which he gave a renovate pulse toward international research. He was a Member of the Editorial Board in many scientific journals, Editor-in-Chief of ('ell Differentiation till 1981, and President of the International Society of Developmental Biologists in 1969-74. He played a primary role in bringing into the society many molecular biologists, whose interest helped to raise the Society to its present scientific level. Alberto Monroy's interest in social problems was not secondary. He belonged to an aristocratic Sicilian family, descended from Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, and he held the title of Prince. Except for his truly aristocratic, exquisite manners one would never have guessed that. as his attitude was marvellous and simple towards everybody. Actually he was so sympathetic to the problems of the lower classes that he served as a City Councillor in the town of Naples as an "independent of the left" and served so well that he has now been proposed for honorary citizenship. He felt sorry for those scientists who after life-long important scientific work made fools of themselves by continuing to work when their minds had already declined. Therefore, at the age of 50, he had written himself a letter to be read at the age of 70, which said:"Alberto, remember that it is about time for you to retire from the scientific stage". Heaven prevented him from suffering the feared decline. He died when he was still very active in a productive and intelligent way, proposing new interesting theories about the mechanism of membrane fusion during the fertilization process, as observed in different species. Alberto Monroy left a beautiful imprint in everyone he ever met; he made important contributions to international developmental biology; and he gave a great thrust to the science of Italy. Thank you Alberto for all of this. Giovanni Giudice
1
Elscvicr Scientific Publishers Ireland. L i d
CDF 00415
Alberto Monroy 1913 1986
Alberto Monroy passed away on 24 August 1986 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, at the age of 73. Could he have chosen the place of his last day, ! am sure he would have selected Woods Hole, so much did he love that place which reflects the essence of his idea of biology. One of his main characteristics was communicativeness. He believed in the primary importance of international exchange of scientific ideas for the progress of science. He pursued this goal so well with his charming, acute and enthusiastic conversation that
he was certainly one of the best known and best informed developmental biologists. His interest in embryology started when he was a student with Otto Mangold in Germany. He was Associate Professor of Human Anatomy at the University of Palermo when he flew on a precarious aircraft to the Zoological Station of Naples in 1944 to meet with the international biological community of that time, establishing contacts with J. Runnstr/Sm, M.H.F. Wilkins, G. Levi and many others. He was one of the first to understand that
0045 6039/87/$03.50 v, 1987 Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland, L t d
the key to embryological problems would be found in chemistry and soon became a pioneer in the field of chemical embryology. In 1948 he worked at the Wenner Gren Institute in Stockholm. In 1949 he visited the United States for the first time, working in collaboration with A. Mirsky, meeting P. Weiss and D. Mazia. He also visited Woods Hole, where he would then return ahnost every summer for the next thirty years, becoming first a Member of the Corporation, then a Trustee, and eventually an Emeritus. Back in Italy Alberto Monroy became, in 1952, Professor of Comparative Anatomy at the University of Palermo and founded there a lively, internationally oriented school of embryology. Soon he was also appointed Dean of the Faculty. fie was fascinated by the problem of fertilization. In the early fifties he attacked it with radioisotopic tracers, demonstrating together with A. Tyler that the development of a K* conductance is one of the first events in sea urchin fertilization. He was among the first to discover that fertilization highly enhances the synthesis of proteins in the sea urchin egg. A few years later, again in collaboration with A. Tyler, he was the first to show that this is due to the increase of the polysome proportion in the fertilized egg. His theory that some proteic factor may block polysome formation before fertilization, supported by experimental evidence, stimulated active discussion and a series of experiments in many laboratories. For these important contributions he received an honorary degree at the University of Chicago in 1967 and the A. Brachet Prize in 1975. He also became a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Alberto Monroy was a prolific and very clear writer. His first book "Chemistry and Physiology of Fertilization", published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in 1965, was translated into several languages, including Russian and Japanese, not only because of his descriptive ability but also because of his stimulating ideas about the general meaning of the described phenomena in the biological problematics. Two more books on fertilization, written in collaboration with C.B. Metz, were published by Academic Press in 1967 and 1985. But what probably reflects best both his eclectic ability to dwell on disparate biological problems and his profound culture is the series "Current Topics
in Developmental Biology" that he edited together with A. Moscona for Academic Press. In 1969 his eagerness for new scientific enterprises brought him back to Naples where he founded the Laboratory of Molecular Embryology of the National Research Council. He then became the Director of the Zoological Station of Naples which had been so much part of his scientific formation and to which he gave a renovate pulse toward international research. He was a Member of the Editorial Board in many scientific journals, Editor-in-Chief of ('ell Differentiation till 1981, and President of the International Society of Developmental Biologists in 1969-74. He played a primary role in bringing into the society many molecular biologists, whose interest helped to raise the Society to its present scientific level. Alberto Monroy's interest in social problems was not secondary. He belonged to an aristocratic Sicilian family, descended from Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, and he held the title of Prince. Except for his truly aristocratic, exquisite manners one would never have guessed that. as his attitude was marvellous and simple towards everybody. Actually he was so sympathetic to the problems of the lower classes that he served as a City Councillor in the town of Naples as an "independent of the left" and served so well that he has now been proposed for honorary citizenship. He felt sorry for those scientists who after life-long important scientific work made fools of themselves by continuing to work when their minds had already declined. Therefore, at the age of 50, he had written himself a letter to be read at the age of 70, which said:"Alberto, remember that it is about time for you to retire from the scientific stage". Heaven prevented him from suffering the feared decline. He died when he was still very active in a productive and intelligent way, proposing new interesting theories about the mechanism of membrane fusion during the fertilization process, as observed in different species. Alberto Monroy left a beautiful imprint in everyone he ever met; he made important contributions to international developmental biology; and he gave a great thrust to the science of Italy. Thank you Alberto for all of this. Giovanni Giudice