Agostino Gemelli
| The Rev. Agostino Gemelli, O.F.M. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 18 January 1878 Milan, Kingdom of Italy |
| Died |
15 July 1959 (aged 81) Milan, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Fields | Medicine, Neuropsychology and Physiology |
| Institutions | Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore |
| Known for | Founding the Catholic University of Milan; Neurophysiological research |
Agostino Gemelli, O.F.M., (18 January 1878 – 15 July 1959) was an Italian Franciscan friar, physician and psychologist, who was also the founder and first Rector of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart).
Gemelli's Institute of Psychology was the most prominent institution of its kind in Italy. In 1921 he founded a teaching hospital for the Medical School of the University, located in Rome, the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic, which is now named after him. He focused some of his research on the psychology of the workplace.
He was born Edoardo Gemelli in 1878 to a free-thinking upper class family in Milan, who were members of the Masonic movement. In his youth, his commitment to social causes led him to become a member of the Italian Socialist Party. He went to Ghislieri College for his education. After his training as a physician, he carried out neurophysiological and psychological experiments, some with the famed physiologist Camillo Golgi.
Gemelli, who had been an agnostic from his upbringing, had a religious conversion from his experience of military service in a hospital, that brought him into contact with a chaplain there who impressed him deeply. This led him to join the Order of Friars Minor in 1903, at which time he took the name Agostino. He was professed in the Order on 23 December 1904, and ordained on 14 March 1908. As members of religious Orders were barred by the Catholic Church from practicing medicine then, he continued his medical research, moving into the field of neuropsychology, where he was dissatisfied with many of the theories regarding the central nervous system held at the time.
...
Wikipedia