Forty years of anaesthesia in Malta : Richard Louis Casolani (1902-1981)

Abstract

The death of Dr. R.L. Casolani on April 8, 1981 marked the end of' an era in the evolution of anaesthesia in Malta. I often had occasion, during the seventies, to listen to him describing local developments during the formative years of his speciality in our island. At my request he kindly supplied me with notes, written in an impromptu fashion, about his experiences. They form the basis of this paper. The son of a Police Officer, Dr. R.L. Casolani was born in 1902. He was educated at the Lyceum and at the University of Malta from where he graduated M.D. ili 1925. Being fourth in order of merit in his course he was, in accordance with the proċedure prevailing at the time, appointed Junior Resident Medical Officer at the Central Civil Hospital, now the building housing the Police Headquarters, at Floriana.