Domenico Barduzzi (Brisighella, Aug. 5, 1847 - Siena, Feb. 27, 1929) was an Italian dermatologist, hydrologist and scholar of problems pertaining to syphilis and its treatment.
He is considered an innovator in the field of dermatology associated with venereology, especially in the study of dermosyphilopathy. He also distinguished himself in the fields of hydrology, social medicine, history of medicine and also as a politician at the university level.
He was one of the promoters of the establishment of an Italian society of dermatology and syphilography, of which he became secretary.
Biography
Domenico Barduzzi was born in Brisighella on August 5, 1847, to Carlo Barduzzi, a land surveyor, and Angela Tani, a housewife. He undertook his early studies in his hometown, until 1863, when he took and passed the entrance examination at the Regio Liceo Torricelli in Faenza, and then completed the 1867–1868 school year at the Liceo Dante in Florence.
He obtained a degree in Medicine in 1872 in Pisa, to which he added the Diploma of Free Practice obtained in 1874 in Florence and in 1882 the University Teaching Licence in Dermatology at the University of Modena thanks to his studies in dermatology under Augusto Michelacci. In 1883 he obtained the position of extraordinary professor of Dermosyphilopathy in the University of Pisa and in the following year participated in the competition for the same chair and ranked third, while the winner was Celso Pellizzari, who was already an extraordinary professor in Siena. After Pellizzari's transfer, Barduzzi was initially offered the vacancy in Siena, which he declined, and in 1886 he passed the competition for the chair of clinical dermosyphilopathy at the University of Siena in which he became dean of the Faculty of Medicine in 1901. Rector in alternate years between 1898 and 1912, he retained the professorship until 1922. He received, among others, high honors such as the appointment as Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy in 1891 and the appointment as Grand Officer of the Crown of Italy in 1922, and devoted himself to the study of hydrology, contributing to specialist journals and magazines and taking on numerous offices and positions, including directing the San Giuliano Baths in 1885, and to research in the history of medicine, especially focusing on figures in Italian medicine such as Gentile da Foligno and Fabrici d'Acquapendente, both in 1919.
Barduzzi and the university
After winning the competition for a professorship in the University of Siena, unable to reconcile family life with his work as a freelancer in Pisa, he moved to Siena only in 1890, when he was appointed full professor. However, this did not prevent him from finding a favorable environment in Siena, quickly integrating himself into the university and city environment. In fact, in 1887 he became an ordinary member of the Accademia dei Fisiocritici, until being elected its president from 1893 to 1896 and also from 1908 until his death. In 1892 he was elected councilor of the City of Siena, a position he held until 1908.
In addition to being a professor, he also distinguished himself as an administrator and defender of the University of Siena in the post-unification period, which was marked by a climate of great uncertainty for higher education and the University, speaking of parliamentary provisions such as:
Along these lines, in 1894 he founded the University Union, which he directed for five years, a journal to which professors from all over the peninsula contributed, including Cesare Lombroso, Enrico Morselli and Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, in which he proposed:
The journal expanded rapidly until it gave birth in 1902 to a nationwide magazine, L'Università italiana, published in Bologna and edited by Barduzzi himself and Raffaele Guerrieri. Among his other achievements as chancellor of the University of Siena, he coined the university's current historical seal, which was approved by the Consulta Araldica on January 4, 1896.
Barduzzi and dermato-venereology
Barduzzi officially entered the field of dermatology in 1883 with his appointment as lecturer having already shown his talent for the subject a few years earlier in the two-year period of advanced studies and practice in the discipline in order to obtain the university teaching licence. This degree allowed him to practice under Augusto Michelacci, professor of dermatology, and Pietro Pellizzari, as professor of venereology.