Giulio Alfredo Maccacaro
Born on 8 January 1924 in Codogno, a little town near Milan, was a physician, biologist, and biostatistician.
He graduated in Medicine at the University of Pavia in 1948, then worked for two years (1949-50) with Ronald A. Fisher in the Department of Genetics, Cambridge University. He was researcher and then professor of Public Health, Pathology, and Microbiology in several Universities (Milan, London, Modena, Sassari), and in 1966 became Director of the Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria of the University of Milan.
His main interests were in statistical methods in clinical medicine (automated diagnosis, clinical trials, screening, occupational and public health), pharmacology, taxonomy, genetics, microbiology, laboratory quality control.
He was among the founders of the journal Epidemiologia e Prevenzione (1976), the official journal of the Associazione Italiana di Epidemiologia (AIE).
He has been always strongly engaged in the social life. During the II World War, while student, he joined a partisan brigade fighting against the fascists and nazi invaders. During the 1960s and 1970s he actively supported the political movements of students and workers against injustices of society and for political renewal. He recognized the importance of work and environment issues, actively supporting the struggles against exposures to toxic substances at the workplaces and environmental pollution.
In 1970 he became director of the book series Salute e Società (Health and Society); in 1972 he founded a book series called Medicina e Potere (Medicine and Power), which highlighted the political role of Medicine and Science in general; since 1974 he was director of Sapere, a scientific and socio-political periodic; he was among the founders of Medicina Democratica (Democratic Medicine), a political movement for health which in 1977 began the publication of the homonymous journal.
He died while at work in Milan on 15 January 1977.
