The EBMT community tributes the outstanding contributions of Alberto Marmont in the field of HSCT.
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing away of Professor Alberto Marmont, who died on Thursday 3rd April 2014, after a brief infectious illness. Born in Catania in 1918, Marmont had a long and productive career against blood diseases that was still generating knowledge. His last paper - systemic lupus erythematosus complicated with thymoma and pure red cell aplasia (pcra)- has just been accepted in the Bone Marrow Transplantation Journal, and will be published with a post-mortem note shortly.
In the early seventies, Alberto was among the first to understand that allogeneic bone marrow transplants were going to be a fantastic opportunity for many patients, being the first physician to ever perform one in Italy. Thanks to his knowledge of the field, his hard work and perseverance, he founded the transplant centre in Ospedale San Martino (Genova, Italy) in 1976.
Alberto Marmont was President of the EBMT from 1986 to 1988, EBMT Honorary Member and President of the Italian Society of Haematology. Besides BMT, Professor Marmont was fascinated by the similarities between autoimmunity and GvHD, and it was his idea to use high dose therapy and autologous transplants for severe autoimmune disorders, including of course multiple sclerosis.
Alberto could cite Shakespeare, Dante and Catullo, discuss history and geography with ease. He had a beautiful mind. We hope to pass on to the younger generation what we have learned from Alberto Marmont: his passion for science, critical view on results, propensity to ask questions – both in private and in public and his respect for knowledge.