Emmanuel Amoroso

Emmanuel Ciprian Amoroso (16 September 1901–30 October 1982) was a Trinidadian reproductive physiologist and developmental biologist with an interest in placenta physiology. He was the first person from the West Indies to be elected as a fellow of the Royal Society.

Early life and education

Amoroso was born on 16 September 1901 in Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, to a Catholic family of 12. His father, Thomas Amoroso, was a businessman and owned estates dealing mainly in cocoa. He began his formal education in St. Thomas' Preparatory School, and went on to Saint Mary's College in 1913. In 1917, he came first in Saint Mary's College in the Junior Cambridge Certificate, but did not gain a scholarship. He left school early due to sight loss as a result of typhoid fever, and taught for a short period in Saint Mary's College after partially recovering his sight.[1]

In 1922, Amoroso went to Dublin, Ireland, to study medicine at University College Dublin (UCD). In UCD, was awarded the John McArdle medal in surgery, and received other student awards and scholarships. He graduated with a first-class honours in 1929, after which he completed his surgical internship in the now defunct Jervis Street Hospital, Dublin.[2]

Career

In December 1929, Amoroso received a scholarship from the National University of Ireland to complete research work on myelination of pig's cranial nerves. Funded by this "traveling studentship", he went to Germany to study in Albert-Ludwigs University and Kaiser Wilhelm Institut für Zellforschung (Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Cell Physiology) until 1932. During this time, he learnt German, and published his first paper in that language. His fluency in German was helpful with his later work on the placenta, as much of the early research on that topic was done by German aristocrats.[1]

In 1933, Amoroso went to London, where he was demonstrator in embryology and histology in University College London. Also in 1933, he began a PhD, which he received in 1934 for his work on the development of the urogenital system in rabbits. After a chance meeting with Hewlett Johnson, later to be known as the "red dean of Canterbury", Amoroso was told about an opening with the Royal Veterinary College for a senior assistant for histology and embryology. In his early days in the veterinary college, he was subject to racism and resentment from the staff there.[1]

For the duration of World War II, the Royal Veterinary College was moved to the campus of the University of Reading. During this period, Amoroso collaborated with several other reproductive biologists. In 1947, he became a fellow of the Zoological Society of London, and the next year, he was appointed as professor of physiology at the Royal Veterinary College. In 1957, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, the first person from the West Indies to be a Royal Society fellow.[2] Amoroso became Professor emeritus at Royal Veterinary College after retiring in 1968.[1]

Publications

His research into the placenta was published in Francis Marshall's Physiology of Reproduction. Amoroso published his last paper at the age of 80, having amassed more than 144 publications.[3]

Selected awards

In 1971, the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, named him Professor Emeritus with the degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa in recognition of his research and contributions to the development of the field of medicine.[3] In 1977 the government of Trinidad and Tobago awarded him the nations highest honour, the Trinity Cross.[3]

Death

He died on 30 October 1982 at the age of 81.[2] For a year before his death, he had been ill with heart disease.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Short, R. V. (1 November 1985). "Emmanuel Ciprian Amoroso. 16 September 1901–30 October 1982". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 31 (0): 2–30. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1985.0001.
  2. 1 2 3 Bartholomew, C. (October 2001). "Emmanuel Ciprian Amoroso". Irish Journal of Medical Science. 170 (4): 261–263. doi:10.1007/BF03167793.
  3. 1 2 3 "Emmanuel Ciprian Amoroso - Biologist", Caribbean Icons, NIHERST.
  4. ↑ "Professor Emmanuel Amoroso". The Irish Times. 15 December 1982. p. 18.
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