Giuseppe Vincenzo Ciaccio

Who is Giuseppe Vincenzo Ciaccio?

Giuseppe Vincenzo Ciaccio was an Italian anatomist and histologist. His name is associated with accessory lacrimal glands known as "Ciaccio's glands".

In 1845 he earned his degree in medicine and surgery in Naples, afterwards opening a medical practice in Catanzaro, where in 1855 he attained the chair of theoretical surgery and obstetrics at the royal university-school. In 1860 he relocated to Turin, subsequently receiving a scholarship to study and work abroad. In London, he met with Thomas Spencer Wells and Lionel Smith Beale, who was an important influence to Ciaccio in his decision to dedicate himself to microscopic anatomy. Following his stay in England, he traveled to Berlin, where he attended lectures by Rudolf Virchow and performed histological studies of Pacinian corpuscles in the laboratory of Wilhelm Kühne.

In 1865 he was named professor of microscopic anatomy at the University of Naples, and two years later served as professor of experimental physiology at the University of Parma. From 1870 he was associated with the University of Bologna, working as a professor of comparative anatomy and histology.