Luciano Fonda, one of Italy's leading theoretical physicists and a driving force behind the ICTP since its inception, died on 21 July. Fonda, who was 67, suffered a fatal heart attack while boating along the Adriatic Sea's Dalmatian Coast south of Trieste. Born in Pula (then part of Italy, now part of Croatia), he received his graduate degree in physics from the University of Trieste in 1955. He then worked for a few years in the United States at Indiana University in Bloomington and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. In 1960, Fonda returned to Italy as a full professor of physics first at the University of Palermo and University of Parma and then at the University of Trieste, where he also headed the Faculty of Sciences for several years. A long-time consultant to the ICTP, Fonda played a key role in the emergence of Trieste as one of Italy's prime physics research centres. His name will remain forever associated with the synchrotron Elettra, located in Trieste's AREA Science Park. After being its most ardent promoter, Fonda served in a number of administrative capacities, including the facility's vice president. His personal fields of interest ranged from nuclear to solid state to particle physics.