Umberto D'Ancona

Umberto D’Ancona was an Italian biologist. He attended secondary school in Fiume and later enrolled as a student in the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Budapest. During World War I he interrupted his studies to fight as an artillery officer, and became wounded and was decorated for military valour. From 1916 to 1920 he studied at the University of Rome under the supervision of Giulio Cotronei. He graduated with a thesis on the effect of starvation on the digestive tract of the eel.