We are all still shocked, but someone who knew Nichi D’Amico well had to find the words to remember him. Andrea Possenti tried, and we all thank him for this beautiful tribute.
“The lines I never wanted to write. The farewell I never wanted to give. And the great effort of thinking about Italian astrophysics, Inaf, the Observatory of Cagliari, all of us, myself, without Nichi. He leaves us with a great task: a legacy of unending enthusiasm, infinite listening ability, a clear capacity to get to the root of problems, and the primary importance of the people we work with.
A legacy also made of very few adjectives and simple, never forced words, with which he made himself understood by everyone, from his students, colleagues, superiors (when he had them), and finally, his institutional and/or political interlocutors – when he had the role of speaking to them to represent, very often successfully, the needs of science and the Institution. It is also for this reason that I have tried to strip these still confused thoughts of mine of any excess sentiment, because I imagine that this aligns with your preferences, Nichi.
In his work, Nichi had three great passions: first pulsars, then Srt (and the Observatory of Cagliari), and finally Inaf. All three were connected by the fundamental thread of love for science, knowledge, and the growth of human capital. And he left his mark on all of them, as only special people can and know how to do.
He dived into his first passion well before I had the fortune to meet him, embarking on a twenty-year work, spanning Australia, Bologna, and Cagliari, which had a spectacular scientific seal with the discovery of the still unique Double Pulsar. An outcome that was the result, on one hand, of the technological experiences he gained in Bologna and transported to Australia, and on the other hand, was realized thanks to the growth around him of an Italian pulsar group, first in Bologna and then in Cagliari, which Nichi truly created from scratch. Behind the few words, there was a person of exquisite sensitivity, who truly knew how to sow the seeds to help people grow, and then followed and cared for them, always. This – without any need for bombastic proclamations – was his secret to creating a group.
A talent that became even more relevant and prominent when he focused on giving a second life to the Astronomical Observatory of Cagliari and allowing the Srt project to truly see the light. A project that became not only the scientific center of Nichi’s life but the aggregating magnet around which an entire generation of researchers, technologists, technicians, and administrative staff matured, all with a path and personal project that Nichi had perfectly in mind from the start and which only his indomitable stubbornness allowed him to fully complete in times when acquiring one staff unit every five years seemed the most achievable. A path within which it was easy to continue for those who took over his role as Director.
I truly envied him for his extraordinary ability, honed over the years (and which I appreciated even more when I faced my personal experience of Direction) to separate concerns – inevitably linked to his role – from the rest of his life. A mental cleansing that allowed him to develop new ideas for old problems the next day. He was obviously not infallible, but his vision – this is my direct experience over the years – ended up being confirmed by the facts, except in very rare cases.
When he announced to me, well before making it public, his intention to try to run for the role of President of Inaf, I remember my heart brightened at the thought of what he could do in that position. There were indeed many examples he had given me, in the difficult years of building Srt, of his abilities to work with patience, but with very strong determination and a very clear vision, for the pursuit of a precise goal, always linked to the good of what he was dealing with and with complete intellectual honesty. “If they appoint me, I’m risking a quiet retirement…”, he added with his usual irony.
As with all the activities he had undertaken before, he threw himself headlong into this last one as well, with the wonderful ability to be President only when needed, but the same old Nichi at all other times. And the effects of his attitudes, abilities, and visions of science are visible to everyone, in Inaf, further testified by the hundreds of messages that remember how today ours is finally a cohesive Institute, with its own line, its own soul, and a pool of human capabilities grown numerically and qualitatively as no one could have imagined even just a few years ago.
While we all gather around the family, I remember you like this, Nichi: as a man of science and humanity who the more you spend time with, the more you learn to appreciate. A man with the available spirit and sharp intelligence of a person who always knew how to be the right one at the right time, for the institutions, for the collaborators, and for friends. That rare type of person everyone would always want to have in their circle of relationships, one of those who make life and work a full and fascinating experience.
We all have to give it our all to carry forward the many things Nichi has sown and nurtured.” A.P.