In the centenary of the birth of Anna Maria Di Giorgio (1897-1961)

Anna Maria Di Giorgio was born on December 22nd,1897 in San Daniele del Friuli. She graduated in Natural Sciences at the University of Florence in 1921. Her career was undertaken in the Institute of Human Physiology of that University under the guide of prof. Gilberto Rossi, one of the most illustrious italian Physiologists, who was her mentor. She was the first woman to win a competition for a Universitary Professorship of Physiology. She was appointed director of the Institutes of Physiology of the Universities of Siena (1938-42) and Turin (1942-61) where she died in 1961. In the centenary of her birth it seemed worthy to commemorate prof. Di Giorgio and her scientific work. She brought fundamental contributions in the field of Neurosciences, in particular on the cerebellum, vestibular apparatus and psychophysiology of vision. She was a pioneer in showing for the first time the plasticity in the spinal cord by the end of the twenties. In addition, she discovered a nystagmogenic center in the cerebral cortex. Her physiological findings have been widely confirmed and are now patrimony of the Neurosciences.