Giovanni Bignami

Giovanni Fabrizio "Nanni" Bignami (; 10 April 1944 – 24 May 2017) was an Italian astrophysicist, best known for his discovery of the neutron star Geminga. From March 2007 until August 2008, he was Chairman of the Italian Space Agency. Between 2010 and 2014, he was the first Italian to chair the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), and from 2011 until 2015, he was President of INAF. He was also the chairman of the SKA project. He was married to fellow Italian astrophysicist Patrizia Caraveo. The asteroid 6852 Nannibignami was named in his honour. He is most known for his discovery of the neutron star Geminga. From 2004 to 2007, he was President of the Space Science Advisory Committee (SSAC) of the European Space Agency, and from 2007 to 2008, he was Chairman of the Italian Space Agency. In 2010, he was elected President of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), the first Italian to hold this post. He served until 2014.

Bignami received several honours, including the Bruno Rossi Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the Blaise Pascal Medal for Astrophysics from the European Academy of Sciences and the Von Karman Award from the International Academy of Astronautics.

Bignami was also a science communicator, writing for Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, Il Sole 24 Ore, L'Espresso and Panorama, as well as appearing regularly on the TV programme Superquark as the curator of a segment about astronomy.

Bignami died on 24 May 2017 in Madrid, Spain, struck by a sudden illness.

Works (it) La storia nello spazio, Milan, Mursia, 2001. (it) L'esplorazione dello spazio. Alla scoperta del sistema solare, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2006. (it) I marziani siamo noi. Un filo rosso dal Big Bang alla vita, Bologna, Zanichelli, 2010. Translated into English as We are the Martians, Springer, Berlin, 2012 (it) Cosa resta da scoprire, Milano, Mondadori, 2011. Ristampato nel 2012 nella serie bestseller “Oscar”. Translated into English as Imminent Science, Springer, 2014 (it) G. Bignami-Cristina Bellon, Il futuro spiegato ai ragazzi, Milano, Mondadori, 2012. (it) Il mistero delle sette sfere. Cosa resta da esplorare. Dalla depressione di Afar alle stelle più vicine, Milano, Mondadori, 2013. Translated into English as The Mystery of the Seven Spheres, Springer, 2015 A Scenario for Interstellar Exploration and Its Financing, Heidelberg, Springer Verlag, 2013. (it) G. Bignami-Andrea Sommariva, Oro dagli asteroidi e asparagi da Marte. Realtà e miti dell'esplorazione dello spazio, Milan, Mondadori University, 2015. G. Bignami-Andrea Sommariva, The Future of Human Space Exploration, Macmillan, 2016.