Alberto Piazza

Alberto Piazza (18 October 1941 – 18 May 2024) was an Italian human geneticist who was Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Turin.¹

Born into a Jewish family in Turin,² professor of Medical statistics at the University of Turin, professor of Genetics at the University of Naples, and professor of Human Genetics at the University of Turin.¹

He has held numerous positions, including: President of the Academy of Sciences of Turin (2016–2018); President of the Human Genetics Foundation (HuGeF–Turin), an instrumental body of the Compagnia di San Paolo, in partnership with the University of Turin and the Polytechnic University of Turin (2009–2017); Emeritus Professor of Human Genetics at the School of Medicine, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin; Full Professor of Human Genetics at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery (now School of Medicine, Department of Medical Sciences), University of Turin (1983–2016); President of the Bioethics Committee of the University of Turin; Director of the Department of Genetics, Biology and Biochemistry, University of Turin (1989–1998; 2004–2010); Visiting Professor of Genetics at the Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California (1981–2004); Associate Professor of Genetics at the University of Naples (1980–1983); Lecturer in Medical Statistics at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Turin (1968–1980)³.

A disciple of Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, in 2001 he published a monumental study concluding that the human races do not exist and that all humans belong to a unique species.⁴

Piazza died on 18 May 2024, at the age of 82.⁵

• (with Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza and Paolo Menozzi) The history and geography of human genes, Princeton University Press, 1994.