Portrait of Mario Donati

Mario Donati (1879-1946) was among the most capable European surgeons of the twentieth century; a great scholar, he is the author of over 200 scientific papers. He graduated in Turin, obtained a teaching qualification in surgical pathology in 1905 and a surgical clinic in 1911; in 1912 he as made the chair of surgical pathology at the Universities of Cagliari, Modena and Padua. In Milan, in 1933, he was appointed to the chair of Surgical Clinic and succeeded Baldo Rossi as director of the Zonda pavilion. Removed from office in 1938 under the racial laws, he took refuge in Switzerland; reinstated in 1945 as a university professor and director of the surgical clinic, he died the following year. At his death in 1946, a foundation was established, headed in his name, with a very substantial library.