Margherita Hack

Margherita Hack
Margherita Hack in 2007
Born	12 June 1922 (1922-06-12) (age 89) Florence, Italy
Residence	Italy
Nationality	Italian
Fields	Astrophysicist Popular Science Writer
Institutions	University of Trieste
Alma mater	University of Trieste
Notable awards	Targa Giuseppe Piazzi (1994) Premio Internazionale Cortina Ulisse (1995)
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Margherita Hack (born 12 June 1922) is an Italian astrophysicist and popular science writer. The asteroid 8558 Hack, discovered in 1995, was named in her honor.

Biography

Born in Florence, she received her laurea in Physics from the University of Florence, in 1945, with a thesis in Astrophysics on Cepheid variables, after studies made in the Arcetri Observatory. She was full Professor of Astronomy from 1964 to 1997 at the University of Trieste; she retired in 1998.

She administered the Trieste Astronomical Observatory from 1964 to 1987, making it become internationally well known.

She is a member of several Physics and Astronomy associations,^[1] and was director of the Astronomy Department at the University of Trieste from 1985 to 1991 and from 1994 to 1997. She is a member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei^[2] and of the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics.

In Italy she is specially known for her rational atheistic views and her continual criticism of the Catholic Church and of its hierarchy and institutions.

Notes

1. ^ International Astronomical Union, European Physical Society, Italian Astronomical Society, Italian Society of Physics
2. ^ "Socio nazionale nella classe di scienze fisiche matematiche e naturali. Categoria seconda: astronomia, geodesia, geofisica e applicazioni; sezione A: Astronomia e applicazioni". Margherita Hack's profile on www.lincei.it

Persondata
Name	Hack, Margherita
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	12 June 1922
Place of birth	Florence, Italy
Date of death
Place of death