Riccardo Giacconi

Italian physicist, the leader of a team that developed a telescope to produce x-ray images. His vision and ability to inspire others was instrumental, and he is considered "the father of x-ray astronomy." Giacconi won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2002.

After earning his doctorate in Milan, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1956. In 1959 Giacconi went to work for American Science and Engineering where he rose to the rank of vice president. From 1973 he took a position as professor of astronomy at Harvard, and later went on to become director of the European Southern Observatory.

Giacconi died on 9 December 2018, aged 87, in San Diego, California.