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 Adinolfi read medicine at the University of Naples and worked there until 1962 In the same year, he moved to London and joined the haematology research unit at the Wright Fleming Institute, as well as practising at St Mary’s Hospital In 1966 he was awarded his doctorate in immunology at the University …
Matteo Adinolfi: immunologist focusing on prenatal diagnosis of gene disorders