Papers

Abstract: The papers of Ugo Cerletti focus largely on his work with electroshock or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), as well as his research into thyroid gland diseases (goiters) and legal aspects of competency and declaring an individual insane. Other materials in the sub-collection concern other aspects of Cerletti's career and research. The majority of the materials are in Italian.

Language note: The majority of the collection is in Italian. Some materials have been translated into or were written in English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, or Latin.

Biog. Sketch (Full): Ugo Cerletti was born from a Lombardy family on 26 September 1877 in Conegliano, Veneto, Italy. He studied medicine in both Rome and Turin, and when he began to focus his concentration on neuropsychiatry and neurology, he traveled to and worked with many of the most important medical figures of his time, including Pierre Marie and Dupre of Paris, Emil Kraepelin and Alois Alzheimer of Munich, and Franz Nissl of Heidelberg.

In 1919 Cerletti was appointed director of the Milan psychiatric hospital's Neurobiological Institute. In 1928 he went to the University of Genoa, and in 1935 he became chair of the University of Rome's Department of Mental and Neurological Diseases.

In 1938, Cerletti and Lucio Bini gave the first human patient electro-convulsive shock therapy (ECT), a schizophrenic patient with delusions and hallucinations. This kind of therapy quickly became accepted practice around the world, by 1944 even having its own Electroshock Research Association in the United States.

After WWII, Cerletti held numerous positions in the Italian professional organizations, including president of the Italian Psychiatric Association and honorary president of the Italian Neurological Society.

Ugo Cerletti died in Rome on 25 July 1963.