Professor Liberato J. A. DiDio – a great anatomist of the 20th century and an advocate of medicine without borders

Abstract

Liberato J. A. DiDio (1920–2004) was one of the most prominent figures of anatomy belonging to the 20th century’s second half and an open-minded man. In 1984, during the era of communism in Yugoslavia, he opened the doors of the Medical College of Ohio (MCO) in Toledo, OH, USA, to a Serbian doctor. During the troubled times for people and anatomists in Serbia in 1994, he saved their association from being expelled from the International Federation of Anatomical Associations. In 1999, only a few months after the bombing of Yugoslavia, he helped them to get the organization of the XVIII International Symposium on Morphological Sciences in 2005, the meeting of the leaders in the field. Serbian anatomists and clinicians proved that he was right when considering them on a par with their peers in the international anatomical and medical community. Professor DiDio first showed talent with Gold Medal – top graduate at his high school, and La Royale Award (Graduation Golden Ring) – top graduate MD. He was trained in Brazil, Italy, and the US. He was the Founding Chairman – Department of Topographical Anatomy, Faculdade de Ciências Medicas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Head of Gross and Surgical Anatomy, Northwestern University Medical, Dental, and Graduate Schools; Founding Chairman, Department of Anatomy, MCO; Professor Emeritus at the age of 70 (1990), Assistant to the President of the MCO, Consultant to the President and the Emeritus Dean (1992–2004). He was a member of editorial boards of 34 journals, academic adviser in 92 M.S. and Ph.D. theses.

Keywords: Professor Liberato J. A. DiDio; anatomy; morphology; XVIII International Symposium on Morphological Sciences – Belgrade 2005