OVERVIEW

His aspirations were brutally crushed in 1881 when, at the age of 23, Vincenzo Cuomo lost an eye while training as a doctor at the University of Naples. A period of convalescence on the Isle of Capri was prescribed to overcome the deep ensuing depression. This changed his life forever and the island became home for the rest of his life with his beloved wife Anna Cataneo and their five children.

He began to research the island’s climate and set up a meteorogical observatory at the top of his house. His discoveries about the therapeutical properties of the island’s climate and atmosphere stimulated its development as a health resort, and thus to its current fame as a holiday island. His detailed observations were recorded meticulously and numerous publications followed, as well as special awards for conference presentations. His work is still used and cited today in medical research across the world.

His professional life continued as he became the island’s doctor, and he was awarded honorary citizenship of the island in 1905 for his medical and scientific contributions. His eclectic talents included poetry, playwriting and music. The latter was put to good use in treatments which would nowadays be called music therapy. His delightful songs include one dedicated to Friedrich Alfred Krupp in 1902.

In 2010, the Alkameon International Prize was awarded posthumously to Vincenzo Cuomo in recognition of his life's work and an issue of the journal Annali di Igiene was devoted entirely to his memory.

The rest of this website is in Italian apart from English translations the abstracts of the technical papers in the Annali di Igiene section.