In memory of Pasquale Montagna

9 December 2010: The unimaginable happens. Professor Pasquale Montagna, our Maestro, dies.

He was always there. An abstract, a presentation, a manuscript, a piece of advice for a patient: it didn't matter who was asking, he was there for everyone and to everyone, with unparalleled generosity, he dispensed all his knowledge. He would say "I don't like it" and was already thinking about how to make the material he had been given better. The important thing was to strive for the best, always, without ever being satisfied, constantly looking for new solutions, without going down easy paths that had already been opened.

It was his extraordinary intelligence that allowed him to do this. Intelligence in scientific thought: from the desire and the will to know, to intuition, to the rigour of the method, to the ability, so rare, to take his eyes off the detail and place them in a broader vision. His open mind, his passions for history, literature, philosophy and music made him multifaceted and were reflected in the breadth of his scientific thinking.

Emotional intelligence gave him the gift of empathy, as much in the medical profession and scientific relations as in teaching and friendship. He was reserved and at the same time attentive and sensitive to nuances. He could surprise with unexpected gestures and impulses. In the same way, his serious expression, at times shadowy or frowning, could open up into a slightly restrained smile with an ironic look, when he reached a shared goal that satisfied him. His solutions could certainly be better than those of his interlocutor, but he never failed to ask sincerely: "What do you think?".

We would like to remember him simply by collecting his publications, paying homage to the world-class scientist, but also to the unique and very special man who will always be alive in our hearts and be the guiding star of our research.

Scholars from Bologna Neurological Sciences

Biofilm

Pasquale Montagna's publications

Press remembrance 3 years after his death

9 December 2020: The memory of his students on the tenth anniversary of his death

So wrote those who knew him and worked with him on the day he passed away on 9 December 2010.

On the tenth anniversary of his death, researchers at the Bologna Neurological Sciences continue to remember him with affection as 'one of the most important teachers'.