Edoardo Maragliano (1849-1940) and the immunogenicity of the tubercle bacillus: The pathway of a great Italian physician

Edoardo Maragliano (1849-1940) was an Italian physician; he played a central role in medicine’s “renaissance” in Italy and Europe. After beginning his academic career as a professor of pathology, he became full professor of internal medicine in 1881. While he studied all fields of internal medicine, his research focused mainly on tuberculosis. Thanks to his experiments in the medical clinic, Maragliano announced the possibility of immunization against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Although criticized for using an inactivated vaccine, Maragliano continued to advocate vaccination with any type of vaccine. Maragliano keenly contributed to the still ongoing process of understanding the difficult interaction between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the infected host.