P Montagna

Pietro Cortelli

English

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CORTELLI, PIETRO

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Tribute to Pasquale Montagna, 1950-2010

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OBITUARY
Tribute to Pasquale Montagna, 1950–2010
 The Author(s) 2011. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Pasquale Montagna, MD, one of the most outstanding
clinical neuroscientists and great leaders of the world of
contemporary research on primary headache, died prema-
turely on December 9, 2010 at the age of 60 after coura-
geously battling cancer for almost two and a half years. He
never hid the fact that he was ill; he was aware of what was
going to happen to him as he talked about it and tried to
weigh up his life both in terms of achievements and fail-
ures. The example he set and the enthusiasm he conveyed
over the years make us feel his absence so keenly.
Pasquale Montagna was born in a delightful small town
in Muro Leccese in the southeastern part of Italy. He
graduated in medicine from the University of Bologna in
1974 with a perfect score. Following his training in neu-
rology at the University of Bologna, Montagna travelled to
Copenhagen, Denmark to receive training in electromy-
ography for 1 year at the famous Laboratory of Clinical
Neurophysiology at Copenhagen University under the
tutelage of Professor Fritz Buchthal. He later stayed there
for 1 year following a fierce competition and winning the
senior registrar position. In 1980 he became a researcher at
the Bologna University Neurology Clinic, participating in
teaching, research and patient care. In 1992 he won the
public competition for Associate Professor, and in 2001 he
became full Professor of Neurology at the Faculty of
Medicine, Bologna University. Following Prof. Elio Lu-
garesi and Prof Agostino Baruzzi, Prof. Pasquale Montagna
became Chairman of Neurological Sciences at the Uni-
versity of Bologna in 2007 and he remained in that position
until his death.
Prof. Montagna was a member of a number of leading
international Neurological Societies (American Neurolog-
ical Association, American Academy of Neurology,
Movement Disorders Society) and a member of the Inter-
national Headache Society since 2000. In the field of
headache research in Italy Pasquale Montagna was a
founding member and Chairman of the Italian Association
for the Study of Headache (ANIRCEF).
Pasquale Montagna’s career was replete with scientific
and professional achievements in many fields of neurology
including sleep medicine, movement disorders, clinical
neurophysiology and headache. In particular, he and his
colleagues discovered new clinical entities such as fatal
familial insomnia, propriospinal myoclonus at sleep onset,
nocturnal paroxysmal dystonia or nocturnal frontal lobe
epilepsy, catathrenia, and periodic limb movements. In
addition, Montagna was the first to postulate the hypothesis
on the pathogenesis of migraine as an expression of dys-
regulation of brain oxidative metabolism [1].
Pasquale Montagna maintained his ambition to promote
sleep medicine and headache research until the very end,
proof-reading (as senior editor) the final chapters for the
two volumes of Sleep Disorders (part of the Handbook of
Clinical Neurology series) a couple of months before his
sad demise and publishing a very important paper on the
evolutionary meaning of primary headache in 2009, the
second Darwin centenary [2]. Prof. Montagna contributed
123
J Headache Pain (2011) 12:271–272
DOI 10.1007/s10194-011-0330-8
approximately 500 full papers in peer-reviewed and mostly
international journals, over 227 presentations and abstracts
and 59 book chapters.
The untimely death of Prof. Montagna at the height of
his career remains an immeasurable loss but simply com-
piling his many major contributions does not convey a
sense of the man. His collaborators, one and all, admired
him for his great intellectual gifts and human warmth. They
also feared the rigour of his judgement, but above all they
loved him for what he had taught them, learnt more by
example than by words. Reserved by nature, Montagna was
modest and not one to talk about himself or his past or
voice his opinion, being concerned more for the welfare of
his patients and giving much of his time to his students,
trainees and colleagues.
Like all great scientists, Montagna is survived by a rich
legacy in headache and sleep research. At the time of his
death, he was the undisputed leader of the Bologna group,
whose sense of loss and grief has left an unfilled void. For
me personally, Montagna was an invaluable mentor and his
life work has helped us to progress in understanding brain
function. There is no doubt that his prodigious contribu-
tions will be appreciated by the international neurological
community for years to come.
Pasquale, my friend, although I am full of sadness, I live
with pleasant memories, and I praise you for your passion
for work, for constantly striving to help your patients, and
for your unfailing devotion to your wife and young son.
May your soul rest in peace. The headache community
remains forever grateful to you for your lasting contribu-
tions. Your legacy, your fine example and teaching shall
remain alive in the hearts and minds of all who had the
privilege of living and working with you. Our compassion
and prayers go to your wife, Flavia Valentini, and your son,
Carlo Lorenzo, whose loss cannot be comprehended.
Pasquale Montagna remained optimistic until the very
end. Just days before his death, looking out of the window
he said ‘‘Pietro, look what a lovely sunny day it is. Let’s
not spoil the mystery of nature that still has so much to
reveal to us’’. Then, with that look that defied reply he
added ‘‘Work! Because doing good research is not just a
pleasure, it is a duty you cannot avoid’’.
Prof Pietro Cortelli
Clinica Neurologica
Dipartimento di Scienze Neurologiche
Alma Mater Studiorum, Universita` di Bologna
Via Ugo Foscolo, 7
40123 Bologna (Italy)
Email: pietro.cortelli@unibo.it
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, dis-
tribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original
author(s) and source are credited.
References
1. Montagna P, Sacquegna T, Cortelli P, Lugaresi E (1989) Migraine
as a defect of brain oxidative metabolism: a hypothesis. J Neurol
236:124–125
2. Montagna P, Pierangeli G, Cortelli P (2010) The primary
headaches as a reflection of genetic Darwinian adaptive behavioral
responses. Headache 50:273–289 (Epub 2009 Dec 21)
272 J Headache Pain (2011) 12:271–272
123


Tribute to Pasquale Montagna, 1950–2010

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Tribute to Pasquale Montagna, 1950–2010

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