SISSA mourns the passing of Edoardo Boncinelli, eminent geneticist, passionate science communicator and former Director of the School from 2001 to 2004. Boncinelli passed away yesterday in Milan at the age of 84.
Born in Rodi and graduated in physics in Florence, he later turned his scientific interests to biology, making major contributions to the study of homeotic (homeobox) genes, which play a crucial role in controlling embryonic development. His career spanned leading research institutions, including the Institute of Genetics and Biophysics of the CNR in Naples, and the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, where he directed the molecular biology laboratory and later the Centre for the Study of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology of the CNR. He also taught Biological Foundations of Knowledge (Fondamenti biologici della conoscenza) at the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan, and in 2016 he received an honorary master’s degree in philosophical sciences from the University of Palermo. From the 1990s, his research interests expanded to neuroscience.
A prolific author and columnist for several newspapers, Boncinelli combined his passion for philosophy, Greek culture and science, leaving behind a remarkable cultural and intellectual legacy that brought together rigour, curiosity and humanism.
SISSA extends its deepest condolences to his family and to all those who were close to him.