{"id":"riccardo-giacconi","type":"person","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/riccardo-giacconi","language":"en","name":"Riccardo Giacconi","name_en":"Riccardo Giacconi","name_ne":null,"description":"Italian-American astrophysicist (1931-2018)","headline":"Italian-American astrophysicist (1931-2018)","also_known_as":[],"summary":"Riccardo Giacconi was an Italian-American Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist who laid down the foundations of X-ray astronomy. He was a professor at the Johns Hopkins University.","summary_more":[],"facts":[{"key":"born","label":"Born","values":[{"text":"6 October 1931","date":"1931-10-06"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q186481#P569"}},{"key":"birthplace","label":"Place of birth","values":[{"text":"Genoa","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1449"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q186481#P19"}},{"key":"died","label":"Died","values":[{"text":"9 December 2018","date":"2018-12-09"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q186481#P570"}},{"key":"deathplace","label":"Place of death","values":[{"text":"San Diego","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16552"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q186481#P20"}},{"key":"citizenship","label":"Citizenship","values":[{"text":"Italy","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q38","start":"1946-06-18"},{"text":"United States","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q186481#P27"}},{"key":"occupation","label":"Occupation","values":[{"text":"astronomer","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11063"},{"text":"physicist","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q169470"},{"text":"university teacher","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1622272"},{"text":"astrophysicist","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q752129"},{"text":"visual artist","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3391743"},{"text":"astrologer","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q155647"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q186481#P106"}},{"key":"education","label":"Education","values":[{"text":"University of Milan","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q46210","end":"1954"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q186481#P69"}},{"key":"spouse","label":"Spouse","values":[{"text":"Mirella Giacconi","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q109324917"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q186481#P26"}},{"key":"positions","label":"Positions held","values":[{"text":"ESO’s Director General (1993–1999)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28319177","start":"1993","end":"1999"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q186481#P39"}},{"key":"awards","label":"Awards","values":[{"text":"Nobel Prize in Physics","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q38104","date":"2002"},{"text":"NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17091138","date":"1980"},{"text":"Elliott Cresson Medal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1332315","date":"1980"},{"text":"Helen B. Warner Prize for Astronomy","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1601825","date":"1966"},{"text":"Henry Norris Russell Lectureship","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1607116","date":"1981"},{"text":"Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q753072","date":"1982"},{"text":"National Medal of Science","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q737051","date":"2003"},{"text":"Karl Schwarzschild Medal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1730176","date":"2004"},{"text":"Wolf Prize in Physics","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q845333","date":"1987"},{"text":"Bruce Medal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q330957","date":"1981"},{"text":"Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q619983","date":"1981"},{"text":"Fulbright Scholarship","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q253936"},{"text":"Marcel Grossmann Award","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2776640","date":"2000"},{"text":"Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7331107","date":"1975"},{"text":"honorary doctor of the University of Padua","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q57446605"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q186481#P166"}}],"office":null,"sections":[],"cited":[],"cited_from":null,"videos":[],"last_reviewed":null,"organizations":[],"same_as":["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riccardo_Giacconi","https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q186481"],"faq":[{"q":"When was Riccardo Giacconi born?","a":"Riccardo Giacconi was born on 6 October 1931 in Genoa."},{"q":"What positions has Riccardo Giacconi held?","a":"Positions held by Riccardo Giacconi include: ESO’s Director General (1993–1999)."},{"q":"Where did Riccardo Giacconi study?","a":"Riccardo Giacconi was educated at University of Milan."}],"related":[{"name":"Daniel Bovet","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/daniel-bovet"},{"name":"Giorgio Parisi","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/giorgio-parisi"},{"name":"Giulio Natta","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/giulio-natta"},{"name":"Renato Dulbecco","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/renato-dulbecco"},{"name":"Beniamino Segre","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/beniamino-segre"},{"name":"Franco Modigliani","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/franco-modigliani"},{"name":"Edwin Cerio","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/edwin-cerio"},{"name":"Mauro Ferrari","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/mauro-ferrari"}],"places_in":[],"nearby":[],"image":{"url":"https://diginpl.com/kb-img/riccardo-giacconi-55ba1ca3e2.jpg","width":500,"height":624,"license":"Public domain","credit":null,"page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RiccardoGiacconi.jpg"},"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia (English): Riccardo Giacconi","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riccardo_Giacconi","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"},{"label":"Wikidata item Q186481","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q186481","license":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},{"label":"Image: RiccardoGiacconi.jpg (Public domain)","url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RiccardoGiacconi.jpg","license":null}],"license":{"text":"CC BY-SA 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","facts":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},"attribution":"Text from the Wikipedia article Riccardo Giacconi, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: RiccardoGiacconi.jpg, Public domain.","cite":"\"Riccardo Giacconi\". DigiNepal. Last updated 31 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/riccardo-giacconi. Retrieved 6 November 2026.","date_modified":"2026-10-31T06:28:20Z","facts_checked":"2026-11-05","alternates":{"html":"https://diginpl.com/people/riccardo-giacconi","en":"https://diginpl.com/people/riccardo-giacconi","ne":"https://diginpl.com/people/riccardo-giacconi?lang=ne"}}