Giancarlo Comi
1947-2024
Death, be not proud
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
John Donne (1609)
Professor Giancarlo Comi passed away on Tuesday. He was a larger-than-life character in the field of multiple sclerosis and touched most things MS. He was one of the few clinicians who was a deep thinker. He was not a pretender. He instinctively grasped new concepts and found pivoting intellectually natural. I met him at my first European Charcot Foundation meeting in 1994 when I gave a presentation on body fluid biomarkers in multiple sclerosis. Since our first meeting, he has championed and given me unwavering support. His passing represents the end of an era in the field of MS. His presence and influence will be missed. He had a hedonistic bent, which I greatly admired, and I will remember with nostalgia many evenings with Giancarlo discussing MS over great Italian food and fine wine. Arrivederci amico mio.
It is the mark of a good man who mourns his friends and finds some special touch to do so.
And with him, symbolically, the passing of an era of scientific discourse amongst equals. With, no doubt, fruitful debate, vigorous dissenting and happy agreement to disagree betimes. But uppermost, the sharing of ideas in all of the best, traditional ways of scientific and philosophical debate, con amici.