Matteo Adinolfi: immunologist focusing on prenatal diagnosis of gene disorders

Matteo Adinolfi was born in 1928 in Asmara, Eritrea, to Attilio, a bank manager, and his wife, Maria (née Sellitti), who had fled there from Italy to escape fascism. His father had been able to transfer to the bank’s Eritrean branch. Adinolfi remembered attending a local school with a handful of other Italian children and trips to the seaside. In his teens, he developed a lifelong passion for Russian novels. On a visit back to Naples in 1943, the family was trapped by the advancing war and unable to return to Africa. Attilio joined the navy. Matteo, his mother, and two sisters fled the bombing of Naples, taking shelter in the surrounding hillside. They fled from one hill to another, foraging for food, and finding shelter where they could. Matteo was half starved and severely ill with gastroenteritis; the experience motivated him to become a doctor.