Giovanni Bignami

Giovanni Bignami
OMRI
Giovanni Bignami OMRI
	Giovanni Bignami at the 2011 Festival della Scienza in Genoa.
Born	4 October 1944; Desio, Kingdom of Italy
Died	24 May 2017 (aged 72); Madrid, Spain
Other names	Nanni Bignami
Alma mater	University of Milan
Occupation	Astrophysicist
Organizations	European Space Agency; Italian Space Agency; Committee on Space Research; Accademia dei Lincei;
Known for	Discovery of Geminga
Spouse	Patrizia Caraveo (m. 1991)
Awards	Bruno Rossi Prize; Blaise Pascal Medal for Astrophysics; Von Karman Award; Légion d'Honneur; Ordre national du Mérite; Order of Merit of the Italian Republic;
	Scientific career
Institutions	IUSS Pavia; National Institute for Astrophysics;

Giovanni Fabrizio "Nanni" Bignami (Italian pronunciation: [dʒoˈvanni faˈbrittsjo biɲˈɲaːmi]; 10 April 1944 – 24 May 2017) was an Italian astrophysicist, best known for his discovery of the neutron star Geminga. From March 2007 until August 2008, he was Chairman of the Italian Space Agency. Between 2010 and 2014, he was the first Italian to chair the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), and from 2011 until 2015, he was President of INAF. He was also the chairman of the SKA project. He was married to fellow Italian astrophysicist Patrizia Caraveo. The asteroid 6852 Nannibignami was named in his honour.