title: In memoriam: Adriano Mantovani, DVM, 1926-2012. One of the world's most prominent contributors to veterinary public health and a committed advocate of the importance of One Medicine.
abstract: Adriano Mantovani was born in 1926 in Altedo, Malalbergo (Bologna). After graduating in veterinary medicine from Bologna University in 1948, he gained his Masters in public health from the University of Minnesota in 1952 and qualified to lecture in microbiology and immunology in 1957 and in parasitology in 1963. He held numerous positions over the years: Assistant, Aide and Vice-Director of the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale di Teramo(1949-1962), Researcher at the Faculty of Medicine in Rome (1962-1965), Professor of Infectious Diseases, Prophylaxis and Veterinary Police Work at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Bologna, Director of the Institute of the same name (1965-1982) and Research Manager and Director of the Parasitology Laboratory at the Italian National Institute of Health and the WHO/FAO Collaboration Centre for Veterinary Public Health in Rome (1983-1991).  He was active in numerous national and international organisations, including as a member of the National Health Council (1974-1982), Secretary of the World Federation of Parasitologists (1971-1987) and from 1972 President, Vice President or presenter in various WHO, FAO and OIE working groups. He worked in numerous countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America as an expert, presenter and lecturer. From 1978, the year in which the Mediterranean Zoonoses Control Plan was established, he was one of the major collaborators of the WHO Mediterranean Zoonoses Control Centre in Athens (MZCC). In 1989, he was the first Italian to be awarded the OIE's international award for contributions to veterinary public health and in 2001 was publicly recognised by the MZCC for his many years of activities carried out to support the zoonoses control plan and promote well-being in the Mediterranean. He had been a member of the Italian National Guard's Commission for Predicting and Preventing Great Risks since 1994. In 2002, he was presented with the Italian Parasitology Society's Battista Grassi medal. He covered leading roles in the executive boards of various Italian and international scientific associations, including the Italian Small Animal Veterinary Association, the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology, the Italian Society of Tropical Medicine, the Italian Society of Parasitology, the World Association for the History of Veterinary Medicine and the World Small Animal Veterinary Association. Professor Mantovani's principal areas of activity were in veterinary public health, above all the epidemiology and control of zoonoses and animal diseases, veterinary urban hygiene, health education and veterinary actions in emergency situations. His interests were not limited to transmissible diseases but included all problems connected with the relationship between humans, animals and the environment in both urban and rural areas, especially disadvantaged areas. He was particularly involved in the development and organisation of public veterinary services, the social and economic aspects of health and animal production and prevention and control activities. He was a committed advocate of the overriding importance of One Medicine and inter- and intra-professional cooperation. He authored over 250 publications.
mesh_terms: D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D007558:Italy; D011634:Public Health / Q000266:history*; D014730:Veterinary Medicine / Q000266:history*