PIONEERS IN NEUROLOGY Antonio Scarpa (1752–1832) Andrzej Grzybowski • Jaroslaw Sak Received: 19 June 2012 / Revised: 11 August 2012 / Accepted: 12 August 2012 / Published online: 29 August 2012 Ó The Author(s) 2012. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com This year, 2012, marks the 260th anniversary of the birth and the 180th anniversary of the death of Antonio Scarpa, an acclaimed anatomist and neurologist. He discovered the naso-palatine nerve (Scarpa’s nerve), the membranous lab- yrinth [1], endolymph (liquor Scarpae), and the ganglion of the vestibular nerve (Scarpa’s ganglion). What is more, his observations on neuroanatomy are still valid [1, 2]. Antonio Scarpa (Fig. 1) was born on May 9, 1752 in Lorenzaga di Motta di Livenza, in the north-eastern region of Italy. At the age of 18, he graduated with honours in medicine at the University of Padua. Thanks to the support of his teacher and mentor, Giovanni Battista Morgagni, the young scholar became professor and head of the depart- ment of anatomy and surgery at the University of Modena just two years later, in 1772 [2–4]. After his appointment, he travelled to the Netherlands, France, and England. In 1783, Emperor Joseph II of Austria appointed him Pro- fessor of Anatomy at the University of Pavia [3]. In 1805, after Napoleon had been crowned King of Italy, he visited Pavia and inquired about the renowned anatomist Scarpa. Upon learning that Scarpa had been dismissed from the University because of his refusal to swear allegiance to the new king, Napoleon ordered to restore him in his position. Through his achievements in neuroanatomy, Scarpa became an honorary member of the Royal Society of London in 1791 and of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1821. He was an excellent lecturer; thanks to his fluent Latin he earned the nickname ‘‘magister elo- quentiae maximae’’. Notes from Scarpa’s lectures formed a complete textbook of surgery, clearly separating theoretical and practical knowledge. Scarpa never married, although he is said to have fathered several illegitimate children. At the end of his life he suffered from a urinary stone, which caused inflammation and subsequently led to his death on Fig. 1 Antonio Scarpa (1752–1832). Reprinted from: Scarpa A (1801) Saggio di osservazioni e d’esperienze sulle principali malattie degli occhi. Presso Baldassare Comino, Pavia: frontpispiece A. Grzybowski (&) Department of Ophthalmology, Poznan ´ City Hospital, ul. Szwajcarska 3, 61-285 Poznan ´, Poland e-mail: ae.grzybowski@gmail.com A. Grzybowski Department of Ophthalmology, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland J. Sak Department of Ethics and Human Philosophy, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland 123 J Neurol (2013) 260:695–696 DOI 10.1007/s00415-012-6658-4