The Impact of the 1938 Fascist Anti-Semitic Laws on Italian Universities: The Case of Veterinary Medicine

Anti-Semitic legislation led in 1938 to the dismissal of tenured university professors of “Jewish race” and their replacement. As to Veterinary Medicine, Abram Alberto Ascoli (1877-1957) in Milan and Michelangelo Ottolenghi (1904-1967) in Sassari were removed from their chairs. Ascoli, a renowned immunologist, was replaced by Luigi Leinati (1895-1992), a veterinary pathologist, preferred to an alternative candidate, Dino Desiderio Nai (1894-1973), a microbiologist. Both Leinati and Nai were Ascoli’s collaborators and also outstanding researchers. Personal relations among Ascoli, Nai and Leinati were basically good, so much so that Ascoli’s reinstatement after WWII went smoothly. Ottolenghi, tenure-track professor of Anatomy of Domestic Animals was replaced by Aldo Tagliavini (1892-1971), who occupied, however, the chair of Pathology and Clinical Veterinary Surgery. Ottolenghi expatriated to Ecuador and Canada, never to return to Italy, and shifted his interests to Public Health. Tagliavini remained in Sassari for only three academic years (1938-1941), then returned to Milan (1941-1971) on the chair of Veterinary Obstetrics and Veterinary Surgery. His scientific personality moved across different veterinary areas, without ever truly excelling. As to the effects of the substitutions on the development of Veterinary Medicine, the two cases are different: Ascoli was replaced by a valid substitute, whereas the removal of Ottolenghi took priority both over the needs of the faculty and over his intrinsic scientific value. Overall, the anti-Semitic legislation, a dark page of the Italian history, represents an example of the damages that political choices may inflict on the quality of teaching and scientific research.