40 Facts About Umberto Veronesi

Umberto Veronesi was the founder and president of the Umberto Veronesi Foundation.

Umberto Veronesi founded and held the role of scientific director and scientific director emeritus of the European Institute of Oncology.

Umberto Veronesi was the scientific director of the National Cancer Institute in Milan from 1976 to 1994.

Umberto Veronesi was a supporter of civil rights, vegetarianism, and animal rights.

Umberto Veronesi grew up in via Vallazze, in Casoretto, in the then agricultural suburbs of Milan, with four older brothers and a younger sister.

Umberto Veronesi was born into a Catholic family and was a practitioner but distanced himself from religion by the age of 14, becoming agnostic.

Umberto Veronesi later declared that, after Auschwitz, the study of oncology had increasingly convinced him of the non-existence of God.

Umberto Veronesi dedicated his professional life to the study and treatment of cancer.

Umberto Veronesi challenged the dominant paradigm among surgeons that cancer could only be treated with aggressive surgery.

Umberto Veronesi championed a paradigm shift in cancer care from "maximum tolerated" to "minimum effective" treatment.

Umberto Veronesi was a founding member of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology.

Umberto Veronesi's name is linked to scientific and cultural contributions recognised and appreciated throughout the world, the most relevant scientific contributions concerning the invention of conservative surgery for the treatment of breast tumors.

Between 1973 and 1980, Umberto Veronesi led the first prospective randomised trial of breast-conserving surgery, known as the Milan I trial, which compared outcomes from radical mastectomy against quadrantectomy.

In June 2005,1,800 surgeons called for Umberto Veronesi to be awarded a Nobel Prize for having revolutionised cancer treatment.

Umberto Veronesi, who was chairman of the BioGeM Scientific Committee and a member of the boards of directors of Mondadori, supported and promoted scientific research aimed at improving conservative surgical techniques, including sentinel lymph node biopsy, which resulted in axillary dissection in breast cancer with clinically negative lymph nodes no longer being performed.

Umberto Veronesi contributed to breast cancer prevention conducting studies on tamoxifen and retinoids, and verifying their capabilities to prevent the formation of carcinoma.

In 2012, some Italian websites reported that the institute led by Umberto Veronesi had purportedly certified the effectiveness of the Di Bella method, which he had already dismissed as part of the 1998 parliamentary commission and again in 2005; the news proved to be a hoax and Umberto Veronesi described it as fake news and confirmed the ineffectiveness of the Di Bella method.

In 2008, Umberto Veronesi was the successful main candidate in Milan for the Democratic Party to the Senate of the Republic.

Umberto Veronesi was married to Sultana Susanna "Susy" Razon, a pediatrician of Jewish faith and Turkish origins who had survived the Nazi concentration camps.

Together, they had seven children, two of whom, Paolo and Giulia, followed in his footsteps and are surgeons, while a third, Alberto Umberto Veronesi, is an orchestra director.

Umberto Veronesi died in his home in Milan on 8 November 2016, aged 90.

Umberto Veronesi argued that legalisation had positive effects, citing the liberal drug policy of Switzerland as having decreased the number of drug addicts.

Umberto Veronesi was part of the guarantors of the Liberta e Giustizia association, which acts in defense of the secular state and the balance between powers.

Umberto Veronesi was in favour of genetically modified organisms.

In March 2005, on the occasion of a conference on environmental communication, Umberto Veronesi mentioned the toxins contained in certain foods, for example polenta, potatoes, flour, or basil.

In 2008, Umberto Veronesi declared that he was in principle against telephone tapping.

Umberto Veronesi identified himself as an agnostic, not believing in any form of afterlife.

Umberto Veronesi argued that human beings should not consider death a terrifying moment but rather accept it as a biological necessity.

Umberto Veronesi supported active euthanasia, affirming the right of any individual to end their life if it became unbearable due to suffering or loss of dignity.

Umberto Veronesi advocated the necessity to regulate euthanasia at a national level, citing the Dutch euthanasia legislation as a good starting point; Veronesi promoted a campaign for the introduction of living will as a legally binding agreement between the doctor and the incapacitated patient.

Umberto Veronesi was in favour of egalitarian marriage and LGBT adoption.

Umberto Veronesi supported the moral and intellectual superiority of women over men.

Umberto Veronesi wrote that "a woman's greatness is instinctive and complete, a genetic greatness because it is based on a combination of DNA, and mental characteristics, which leads to a better ability to adapt".

Umberto Veronesi was an ethical vegetarian and an animal rights advocate.

Umberto Veronesi was a vegetarian for ethical reasons but promoted the health benefits of a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet.

In 2012, Umberto Veronesi co-authored Verso la scelta vegetariana with Mario Pappagallo.

Umberto Veronesi supported GMOs as a way to produce food with higher nutritional capabilities and deprived of potentially carcinogenic substances.

Umberto Veronesi criticised the opposition to GMOs as being due to a lack of scientific knowledge.

Umberto Veronesi received thirteen national and international honorary degrees in medicine, medical biotechnologies, agricultural sciences, pedagogical sciences, and physics.

Umberto Veronesi became an honorary citizen of several cities, including Asti on 31 January 2004, Monte Argentario in 2006, and Inveruno in 2015.