Rita Levi Montalcini
“It is imperative that we support FAO’s campaign, urging young people, who more than adults enjoy the ability to spring into action, to play what could be a decisive role in the elimination of this tragic reality. I ask you to join us by participating in FAO’s campaign against world hunger”.
Professor and Senator Rita Levi Montalcini, a physician and neurobiologist, received the Nobel Price for Medicine in 1986 in recognition of her discovery and characterization of the role of the nerve growth factor. Professor Levi Montalcini, whose medical work is tireless, has received numerous other prestigious scientific awards including the American Golden Plate Award and Silver Cup. She has been elected to the Pontifical Academy (Italy), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (United States) and the Académie des Sciences (France).
Since childhood, Prof. Levi Montalcini has been committed to the cause of alleviating poverty and malnutrition. She believes that, as a public personality, she can appeal to a large segment of the public, encouraging people to support FAO’s global campaign against hunger.
Since her appointment as FAO Goodwill Ambassador in 1999, Professor Levi Montalcini has written articles and editorials about the plight of the hungry for major Italian and international newspapers and has devoted countless hours to her role as an FAO envoy and spokesperson.
She participated in the Santa Cecilia World Food Day concert in Italy in 1999 and in a charity event in Florence in 2000, with tenor Luciano Pavarotti.
In October 2004, Ms. Levi Montalcini was interviewed by the Radio Vaticana with a focus on her role as an FAO Goodwill Ambassador. In December 2005, while being awarded a prize in Verona by the Major of the City, Prof. Levi Montalcini focused her speech on her role as an FAO Goodwill Ambassador.
In May 2006, she met with the delegation of the Joint Inspection Unit of the UN Office in Geneva and these encounters were instrumental in view of the preparation of the report on the Ambassadors Programmes in the United Nations System.
In spite of her numerous engagements as a physician and a senator of the Italian Republic, Professor Levi Montalcini regularly attends the World Food Day celebrations in Rome. In March 2007, she delivered a statement on the occasion of the World Water Day held in FAO in Rome, which received the praise of the public.
She has attended the inaugural ceremony of the High Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy (Rome, 3-5 June 2008).
Senator Levi Montalcini has confirmed her intention to write an article dedicated to the 2008 World Food Day theme, to be published on major Italian newspapers.
