neurology - history - brazilian Academy of Neurology, Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria
neurologia - história - Academia Brasileira de Neurologia - Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria
Seventy-five years ago, in June 1943, the first edition of Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria (ANP) was published under the editorship of the then assistant professor of Neurology
at the University of São Paulo School of Medicine (FMUSP), Prof. Oswaldo Lange[1],[2],[3]. The initiative had the full support of the two Neurology services in São Paulo
at the time: the service at the Hospital das Clínicas of FMUSP, under Prof. Aderbal
Tolosa, and the service at the São Paulo School of Medicine (EPM-UNIFESP), coordinated
by Prof. Paulino Watt Longo[1],[2],[3],[4],. These full professors of Neurology wrote an editorial for the first edition of
the ANP, in which they summarized the basic aims of the journal: “to satisfy the need for a journal to disseminate the fruits of scientific effort arising
from the branching produced by the vitality of the tree planted by Enjolras Vampré”[3].
In 1970 the ANP became the official journal of the Brazilian Academy of Neurology
(BAN) and has now been published unfailingly for 75 years[5]. The aim of this article is to pay tribute to all the previous editors of ANP: the
founder of the journal, Prof. Oswaldo Lange, Prof. Antonio Spina-França Netto and
Profs. Luis dos Ramos Machado and José Antonio Livramento.
OSWALDO LANGE: EDITOR FROM 1943 TO 1986
OSWALDO LANGE: EDITOR FROM 1943 TO 1986
Prof. Oswaldo Lange ([Figure 1]) was born in 1903 in the city of São Paulo and died in 1986 in the same city shortly
before the age of 83 [1],[2],[3]. After graduating in Medicine from the University of São Paulo in 1927, he worked
at the FMUSP Neurology clinic with Professors Aderbal Tolosa and Paulino Watt Longo
under the supervision of his professor and mentor Prof. Enjolras Vampré. When Vampré
died in 1938, Aderbal Tolosa was appointed to the chair of Neurology and Lange became
assistant professor, as well as chief resident[1],[2],[3]. He subsequently acquired an interest in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which lead to
his thesis in 1938 on the characteristics of CSF in preclinical neurosyphilis, when
he was appointed livre-docente
[*] professor of Neurology at FMUSP, following a public examination[1],[2],[3].
Figure 1 Oswaldo Lange (Editor from 1943 to 1986).(Extracted from Google Images: Scielo.br,
November 05th, 2017)
As chief resident, working full-time with an exclusive employment contract, he became
extremely well known for his great scientific knowledge and the very rigorous, efficient
manner in which he oversaw doctors under his guidance[1],[2],[3]. In 1943 he became the first editor of ANP, a position he held until his death,
always performing his duties with great dedication and scientific rigor and displaying
tremendous generosity toward his peers[1],[2],[3],[6].
At the end of 1943 Lange published an editorial in which he summed up what he hoped
to achieve for ANP: “We cannot fail. We will overcome any obstacles to carry out this task. We will make
ANP a journal that can match the best Brazilian journals and is comparable with similar
journals in countries where the quality and quantity of journals suggest that Neuropsychiatry
has reached a higher level. We shall repay the trust placed in us. And, above all,
ANP will be a journal edited in São Paulo to serve Brazil”[4],. To this day ANP upholds the mission and vision outlined by Prof. Oswaldo Lange.
ANTONIO SPINA-FRANÇA NETTO: EDITOR FROM 1987 TO 2010
ANTONIO SPINA-FRANÇA NETTO: EDITOR FROM 1987 TO 2010
Prof. Antonio Spina-França Netto ([Figure 2]) was born in 1927 in the city of Jaú, in the state of São Paulo, and died in 2010
in São Paulo, the capital, at the age of 82[7]. He graduated in Medicine from the University of São Paulo in 1951 and became the
first neurology resident at the Hospital das Clínicas of FMUSP[7]. He acquired a solid knowledge of Neuroscience and was deeply influenced by Prof.
Oswaldo Lange. Having also specialized in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), he wrote his
doctoral thesis on the electrophoresis of proteins in CSF. The thesis for his livre-docência
[*] was in the same area (Betaglobulins in CSF). He was chief resident and, subsequently,
full professor of Neurology at FMUSP[7] and participated actively in setting up the school of Neurology in Botucatu, in
the state of São Paulo.
Figure 2 Antonio Spina-França Netto (Editor from 1987 to 2010).(Extracted from Google Images:
Scielo.br, November 05th, 2017).
Prof. Spina-França dedicated himself assiduously to the BAN and became a representative
of the academy at the World Federation of Neurology (WFN), of which he was later appointed
vice-president[7]. Prof. Spina-França was also a co-founder of the Spina-França Neurodiagnostic Laboratory
and the Center for Neurological Investigations (CNI) in the Department of Neurology
at FMUSP[7]. He was editor of the ANP for over 20 years, a role he performed impeccably, making
sweeping changes to the journal and modernizing the editorial process. One of his
favorite mottoes, frequently mentioned by his colleagues, was “We have to transmit to the younger generation what was passed on to us by the older
generation. That is why we are a school!”[7].
JOSÉ ANTONIO LIVRAMENTO AND LUÍS DOS RAMOS MACHADO: EDITORS FROM 2010 TO 2017
JOSÉ ANTONIO LIVRAMENTO AND LUÍS DOS RAMOS MACHADO: EDITORS FROM 2010 TO 2017
José Antonio Livramento ([Figure 3]) was born in Recife, Pernambuco, in 1945[8]. He graduated in Medicine from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) in 1968
and was a Neurology resident at the Hospital das Clínicas, FMUSP, from 1969 to 1970[8], since when he has followed an academic career. In 1978 he completed his masters
in Neurology under the supervision of Prof. Spina-França with the dissertation “Immunoglobulins
in Normal Cerebrospinal Fluid”. He defended his doctoral thesis in 1980 with the study
“The Contribution of Immunofluorescent Reactions in Cerebrospinal Fluid to the Study
of Neurocysticercosis”, also under the supervision of Prof. Spina-França[8]. In 1986 he was awarded the livre-docência at FMUSP with his thesis “Cerebrospinal Fluid Syndrome in Neurocysticercosis”. Prof.
Livramento carried out numerous activities at FMUSP, the São Paulo Association of
Medicine, the BAN, the WFN and the São Paulo Academy of Medicine[8]. From 2010 to 2017 he was editor of the ANP together with Prof. Machado, a duty
he always performed with great elegance and dedication.
Figure 3 José Antonio Livramento (Editor from 2010 to 2017).(Extracted from Reference 8).
Luís dos Ramos Machado ([Figure 4]) was born in the village of Rebordainhos, in Portugal, in 1945[9]. He graduated from FMUSP in 1974 and did his medical residency in Neurology in the
Hospital das Clínicas at the same university[9]. He completed his masters in Neurology in 1981 under the supervision of Prof. Horácio
Martins Canelas with the dissertation “Lymphocyte Subpopulations in the Normal Cerebrospinal
Fluid” and was awarded a PhD in 1987 with the thesis “Cerebrospinal Fluid and Neurocysticercosis:
Evolutional Features of the Cellular Inflammatory Response”, also under the supervision
of Prof. Horácio Martins Canelas[9]. He has carried out numerous activities at FMUSP, including coordinating the outpatient
unit for infectious diseases of the nervous system since 1996. He was an active member
of the BAN and the São Paulo Association of Medicine and has been a member of the
São Paulo Academy of Medicine since 1997[9]. From 2010 to 2017 he was a very dynamic joint editor of the ANP together with Prof.
Livramento.
Figure 4 Luís dos Ramos Machado (Editor from 2010 to 2017).(Extracted from Reference 9).
CONCLUSION
ANP, the official journal of the BAN, was first published in 1943 and is completing
75 years of uninterrupted activity in 2018. When the journal was launched, only few
scientific journals in the area of Neurology existed worldwide and even fewer in Latin
America. This scenario makes ANP a truly pioneer journal, which has significantly
contributed to the advance of research in our country and continent.During its 75
years of existence, ANP has been edited by Prof. Oswaldo Lange, founder of the journal,
Prof. Antonio Spina-França Netto, a disciple of Lange, and more recently, Prof. José
Antonio Livramento and Prof. Luís dos Ramos Machado, disciples of Spina-França[1],[5],[7],[10]. The dedicated work and the great contributions of these four editors at different
times shaped ANP as a leading peer-reviewed journal in Clinical Neurology and Neurosciences
in Latin America.
