Career
Vincenzo Chiarugi was born in Empoli, near Florence. He graduated from the medical school of Pisa in 1780, then moved to Florence to work at the Santa Maria Novella hospital.
From 1785 to 1788, Chiarugi was director of the Santa Dorotea hospital in Florence, where he outlawed chains as a means of restraint for psychiatric patients. A prior attempt had been made there in the 1750s, but chains softened with canvas strips had been reintroduced.
In 1788, Chiarugi was appointed physician director ("primo infermiere") of the Bonifacio Hospital. Existing since the 14th century, a wing had been rebuilt along his plans, with the internal structure adapted to the specific needs of the patients. The hospital took in the mentally ill as well as invalids (who were typically poor, homeless and unemployed) and patients with skin conditions. Chiarugi was the chief author of new humanitarian regulations for the hospital that were introduced in 1789.
In 1793-1794 Chiarugi's main published psychiatric work, his three volume On Insanity and Its Classification (Della Pazzìa in Genere e in Specie), was published in Florence. He also published works on dermatology and agriculture, and a book about his home town.
In 1802 Chiarugi became professor of dermatology and mental diseases, and later professor of physiology, pathology, and "materia medica" at the medical school of Florence. He continued his work of reform and of teaching until his death in 1820.
Read more about this topic: Vincenzo Chiarugi
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“I doubt that I would have taken so many leaps in my own writing or been as clear about my feminist and political commitments if I had not been anointed as early as I was. Some major form of recognition seems to have to mark a woman’s career for her to be able to go out on a limb without having her credentials questioned.”
—Ruth Behar (b. 1956)
“I began my editorial career with the presidency of Mr. Adams, and my principal object was to render his administration all the assistance in my power. I flattered myself with the hope of accompanying him through [his] voyage, and of partaking in a trifling degree, of the glory of the enterprise; but he suddenly tacked about, and I could follow him no longer. I therefore waited for the first opportunity to haul down my sails.”
—William Cobbett (1762–1835)
“Whether lawyer, politician or executive, the American who knows what’s good for his career seeks an institutional rather than an individual identity. He becomes the man from NBC or IBM. The institutional imprint furnishes him with pension, meaning, proofs of existence. A man without a company name is a man without a country.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)