Memorial of Sergio Lucchesi (1958-2010)

Abstract

Memorial of Sergio Lucchesi (1958-2010) by Marcella Federico

Sergio began attending the Institute of Mineralogy and Petrography of the University of Rome “la Sapienza” (currently merged into the Department of Earth Sciences) in 1979, during his degree thesis in Mineralogy. He was immediately appreciated, in addition to his bright intelligence, for his availability and kindness. His carrier at Rome University began as a Researcher in 1983 and advanced through the ranks to full Professor in 2004. At the beginning of his scientific activity Sergio performed his research on physical properties and growth history of beryl and quartz, and subsequently he focused on crystal chemistry of oxides and silicates. Axinite, tourmaline and spinel groups were examined by him and his team, and the excellent results obtained can be briefly summarised as follows. The researches on axinite led to the final form of the crystal chemical formula of the mineral group. The works on tourmaline enabled to define the structural constraints on the chemical
composition variability. Finally, the researches on natural and synthetic spinel crystals allowed employment of the cation distribution for geothermometric and geospeedometric purposes. The results of these studies, published in prestigious scientific reviews, have obtained numerous acknowledgments in the international scientific community.
For Sergio teaching was an important part of his work, not only restricted to the didactics “stricto sensu” but extended to the rigorous training of students and young researchers, who showed a real bent for Mineralogy.
His exceptionally ameable personality will not appear fully outlined if it was not reminded his particular interest in the classical culture and his deep knowledge of the History, with a long standing fascination with the Roman Empire and the Napoleonic Age.

Selected bibliography of Sergio Lucchesi by Giovanni B. Andreozzi

Graziani G. and Lucchesi S. (1982) - Interdependence between variations in chemical composition and structural distortions in a vanadium beryl. Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie Monatshefte, 97-105.

Scandale E., Lucchesi S. and Graziani G. (1984) - Optical Anomalies of Beryl Crystals. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals, 11, 60-66.

Scandale E., Lucchesi S. and Graziani G. (1990) - Growth defects and growth marks in pegmatite beryls. European Journal of Mineralogy, 2, 305-311.

Graziani G., Lucchesi S. and Scandale E. (1990) - General and Specific Growth Marks in Pegmatite Beryls. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals, 17, 379-384.

Lucchesi S. and Della Giusta A. (1994) - Crystal chemistry of non-stoichiometric Mg-Al synthetic spinels. Zeitschrift für Kristallographie, 209, 714-719.

Lucchesi S. and Della Giusta A. (1997) - Crystal chemistry of a highly disordered Mg-Al natural spinel. Mineralogy and Petrology, 59, 91-99.

Lucchesi S., Della Giusta A. and Russo U. (1998) - Cation distribution in natural Zn-aluminate spinels. Mineralogical Magazine, 62, 41-54.

Federico M., Andreozzi G.B., Lucchesi S., Graziani G. and Cesar-Mendes J. (1998) - Compositional variation of tourmaline in the granitic pegmatite dykes of the Cruzeiro Mine, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The Canadian Mineralogist, 36, 415-431.

Andreozzi G.B., Ottolini L., Lucchesi S., Graziani G. and Russo U. (2000) - Crystal chemistry of the axinite-group minerals: A multi-analytical approach. American Mineralogist, 85, 698-706.

Andreozzi G.B., Lucchesi S. and Graziani G. (2000) - Structural study of magnesioaxinite and its crystal-chemical relations with the axinite-group minerals. European Journal of Mineralogy, 12, 1185-1194.

Andreozzi G.B. and Lucchesi S. (2002) - Intersite distribution of Fe²⁺ and Mg in the spinel (sensu stricto)-hercynite series by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. American Mineralogist, 87, 1113-1120.

Bosi F., Lucchesi S. and Della Giusta A. (2002) - Structural relationships in (Mn_1-xZn_x)Mn₂O₄ (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.26): The “dragging effect” of the tetrahedron on the octahedron. American Mineralogist, 87, 1121-1127.

Bosi F. and Lucchesi S. (2004) - Crystal chemistry of the schorl-dravite series. European Journal of Mineralogy, 16, 335-344.

Bosi F., Lucchesi S. and Reznitskii L.Z. (2004) - Crystal chemistry of the dravite–chromdravite series. European Journal of Mineralogy, 16, 345-352.

Bosi F., Andreozzi G.B., Ferrini V. and Lucchesi S. (2004) - Behavior of cation vacancy in kenotetrahedral Cr-spinels from Albanian eastern belt ophiolites. American Mineralogist, 89, 1367-1373.

Andreozzi G.B., Lucchesi S., Graziani G. and Russo U. (2004) - Site distribution of Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ in the axinite mineral group: New crystal-chemical formula. American Mineralogist, 89, 1763-1771.

Bosi F., Andreozzi G.B., Federico M., Graziani G. and Lucchesi S. (2005) - Crystal chemistry of the elbaite–schorl series. American Mineralogist, 90, 1784-1792.

Agrosì G., Bosi F., Lucchesi S., Melchiorre G. and Scandale E. (2006) - Mn-tourmaline crystals from island of Elba (Italy): Growth history and growth marks. American Mineralogist, 91, 944-952.

Bosi F. and Lucchesi S. (2007) - Crystal chemical relationships in the tourmaline group: Structural constraints on chemical variability. American Mineralogist, 92, 1054-1063.

Lucchesi S., Bosi F. and Pozzuoli A. (2010) - Geothermometric study of Mg-rich spinels from the Somma-Vesuvius volcanic complex (Naples, Italy). American Mineralogist, 95, 617-621.