Riccardo Giacconi Biography

Riccardo Giacconi was born in Genoa, Italy on October 6^th of 1931. Even though he was born in Genoa, he spent most of his days living in Milano until 1956. His mother, Elsa, taught high school math and physics. She also helped to write geometry textbooks which were used all across Italy. Riccardo’s father, Antonio, owned a small business and was anti-fascist. When Riccardo was only eight years old, his parents were legally separated.

Riccardo lived during the WWII era and when Milano was bombed in 1942, he was sent to go live with his aunts in Cremona, Italy. After WWII was over, he moved back to Milano and lived there until 1956. After returning from the sheltering of his aunts, he received a doctorate in physics. Most of his thesis works were about nuclear reactors. It was suggested to him that he should move to the United States to further his schooling in physics. He moved to the U.S in 1956 and had lived there ever since. He gained passage to the U.S via a scholarship. Riccardo worked and studied in Indiana with a man named R.W. Thompson. He eventually left working with Thompson, as it was leading nowhere, and Riccardo was adopted by MIT. He began to get into the study of cosmic ray research. This is what he really wanted to learn more about and explore. This was right around the time he married the girl he has known since he was only sixteen years old. Her name was Mirella. After he married Mirlella, he became enrolled in AS&E and did research there from 1959 to 1962- which is what he considers the most productive years of his life. He helped to estimate payloads of satellites and rockets. He also helped advance the field of X-Ray astronomy.

After he became involved in the field of X-Ray astronomy, he helped in the building of the Hubble Space Telescope. The Hubble Space Telescope was a huge success and was, and still is, one of the best- if not the best, space telescope to date. After the launching of the Hubble Space Telescope, he began to settle down and not do as much research and studying. In 1991, tragedy struck, as his son died in an automobile accident. Riccardo Giacconi is still alive today and won a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2002. He will be considered one of the best and most well known astronomers of all time.