Paolo mancherà sempre. I ricordi buoni sono tanti. Con il tempo riaffiorano all’improvviso, insieme a un sorriso :)

È sempre forte e affettuoso il ricordo di un caro amico che non c’è più.

Remembering your contagious smile, the light in your eyes, engaging conversations and captivating personality. Always there.....

Today is the anniversary of the death of our dear friend and member of the Erri De Luca Foundation, Paolo Sassone Corsi. We remember him with intense affection.

Our dearest Paolo,
Today is an extremely difficult milestone - in ordinary times we would be celebrating your 65th Birthday by raising a glass to your numerous accomplishments and achievements, the diversity of people whom you have inspired and touched, and the incredible legacy you were already a part of.
Glenn & I are grateful that last year we were able to celebrate #64 with both you and Emiliana - clinking our glasses of Chassagne - Montrachet 1er cru and eating slices of Flammekueche, 2 of your favorites! xxxx forever

I miss you..more than i thought i would...They say time is a great healer.. I am not so sure..

Paolo and Erri De Luca, talking about their book written together "Ti sembra il caso"...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppfteB8OlEQ

The link from Paolo and Emiliana's friend and colleague Alessandro Usiello, together with Maurizio Bifulco.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7493942/

Bien cher Paolo,
J'ai très mal mal au coeur et je pleure, quelle tristesse de t'avoir perdu. Tu m'avais raconté ton voyage au Zimbabwe et en Zambie il y a longtemps, tu étais emerveillé, c'est mon meilleur souvenir de toi.

Inder Verma on Sept 22nd ,2020
I first met Paolo in a hotel near Zurich Airport in 1983 /84 to discuss the possibility of his undertaking a Post doctoral position in my laboratory at The Salk Institute. He came from Strasbourg, and i was on my way to Arolla to attend a meeting. Within 30 minutes, i wanted him to join my lab...there was something about his energy, his passionate description of his ongoing work in Pierre Chambon`s lab, excitement about science and not to mention his lingering pride in Italy's 1982 World cup victory and that too over Germany. I nearly missed my train to Zion, as we bonded and forgot about time..( A factoid, Paolo had a full head of dark hair !). Paolo was phenomenally successful in making pioneering discoveries elucidating the mechanisms of Fos-Jun interactions. I still can vividly recall the morning he showed me the autoradiograph establishing the cooperation of Fos-Jun complex binding to AP 1 site . Fos alone barely registered any binding, and Jun showed some, but the two together bound with screaming efficiency.. the big-fat band was so obvious. It changed the field .
Paolo, Emiliana , my family and I have remained good friends , meeting in Europe, talking about politics, science, literature, astronomy, and of course soccer. I always looked forward to seeing him , get a big hug with a smile and wait for his standard greeting,” How is it going?”
Paolo`s sudden death has deeply saddened me, and I still can`t believe that I will never again give him a hug , see the twinkle in his eyes and will sorely miss that smile !
Rest in Peace my friend, you left a big hole in many people`s heart .

Paolo, Emiliana,
C'est avec une forte émotion que j'ai appris le décès de Paolo en regardant la dernière issue de Molecular Cell.
Je garde l'image de Paolo de ses années IGBMC-Illkirch (France) pendant mes années de thèse et à mon retour de post-doc. Nous avions beaucoup discuté et j'ai pu faire quelques manips pour lui.
J'ai grandement apprécié sa rigueur, sa vision de la recherche et son enthousiasme. Il avait toujours le sourire et voyait le côté positif des choses et que faire pour les améliorer et les faire avancer.
Je présente toutes mes condoléances à sa famille et plus spécialement à Emiliana que j'ai connue et côtoyée également à l'IGBMC.

My 3-months stay in Paolo's lab in 1996 had an impact on my scientific and personal life like no other experience afterwards. My huge regret is not to have managed to keep sufficiently in contact with Emiliana and him over the years. Will miss you Paolo, more than I had realized.

"Hello Fellas!" Such a charming greeting that always made me happy since it meant Paolo had arrived.
Even though our friendship has been brief, it has been an intense bond of kinship, respect, love and lots of laughs. Together the 4 of us - Paolo, Emiliana, Glenn and I have enjoyed countless jazz concerts, unbelievable astronomical experiences, La Sirena Thursdays, wine tastings, hiking, frequent celebrations, philosophical exchanges and for 5 months we became our own little social bubble for which I'll forever be grateful since we were all grounded at home and no longer traveling.
My heart is broken and aches deeply but I find comfort through Paolo's exuberance and incomparable positivity. Grazie Mille Caro Paolo!

My dear friend, I am still in shock, and I can't believe we will not meet again in some sirtuin/chromatin/metabolism meeting. You were one of a kind. Your sense of humor, our talks about futbol (in Spanish!) and our discussions about science will be sorely missed. Emiliana, my deepest sympathies. Raul

Paolo has been one of the most influential scientists for my career: I met him at a meeting in Rome in 1995, and he suggested me to join Emiliana's group for my postdoc. And that was what I did the year after. If I'm still in science, doing what I like to do, I have to thank Emiliana and Paolo. Grazie.

Your sudden disappearance has left us an insurmountable void, an insurmountable weight. Of one thing I am sure, we will have no difficulty in keeping your memory alive because you have given and taught so much during your life that you will live within us, every single day.
You always said "Life is too short, so fill it with things you love", Paolino, you certainly did, I don't remember a single day near you when I felt sad, you had the ability to illuminate our days of joy, joy of life, which you didn’t lack.
I am honored to have been able to live near you for a while, to have been able to learn from you, to have been able to share the everyday life, our daily lunches, trips, holidays and Christmases and to have been your niece to whom you have passed on your passion for biology, and now more than ever I will try to carry it out, for your love and to honor your sacrifices to the last.
I really don't know how we will do without you, but as Prof. Giuseppe Novelli wrote in his article "And if the private mourning is full of moments lost in time like tears in the rain, your wisdom will not die".
You have been so amazing and so extraordinary in your life that you have left an indelible imprint, a mark, in the hearts of all the people who have had the privilege of knowing you and you will live in all of us and in subsequent generations, forever.
I miss you and I will miss you so much

The Italian author Erri De Luca writes about his special friendship with Paolo...Paolo, we all miss you so much.

http://fondazionerrideluca.com/web/paolo-sassone-corsi/

Dear Paolo,

To this day I still cannot believe that you are no longer with us. You have been an inspiration to me in so many ways. I feel that I followed your foot steps, from transcription to germ cells, to chromatin, and I was so excited to see that our paths may cross again on skin and metabolism. Your love and devotion to science, your energy and honesty, and your jokes - they have become such an integral part of academic life and personal friendship at UCI - it saddens me deeply to have to say good bye to all of these. Rest in peace Paolo. I will miss you. Xing

Paolo,
Still coming to terms with the notion of knowing you and breathing your spirit for such a brief time. Taken away by an unexpected gust of wind; your intellectual and body scent remains with us and must carry on your remarkable work and wishes for the wellbeing of our society.

The wonderful scientific work that was routine to Paolo was as source of awe to all but the enormous energy that Paolo generated was a source of great inspiration to those of us who knew him. It is hard for me to comprehend his loss, As I walk these days on the campus at Irvine his memory is constantly on my mind. Tom Cesario

Paolo, thank you for your generous spirit and your enormous contributions to the field. I still can't fathom that someone with such a zest for life has been taken away from us so early. You will be profoundly missed.

Paolo, we met at a circadian meeting and 2 glasses of wine and 3 hours of football conversation was enough for us to become friends! I am still in shock and really sad. I will miss so much our almost weekly zoom meetings where we talked about science and so many other things about life. Most importantly, i will always miss your sense of humor, your kindness, your approach to science (making tjings always look so easy) and mentorship. Your science is an inspiration and mine was made so much better because of our collaboration. I feel priviliged to have known you and sharing so many great moments.

If there is something up there, they are in for a ride! Te echaré mucho menos mi amigo. Un beso muy grande a Emiliana.

Paolo, I will miss enjoying a glass of wine with you and Emiliana while watching the sun set on your terrace in Laguna Beach. I will miss discussing football or the last eclipse you guys watched somewhere in the world. I will miss the story of the great white shark you saw on the boat trip to Catalina island that you always told to scare my sons when they wanted to go for a swim in the ocean. I will miss the pick-up football games we enjoyed in the SoCal heat with 30 people on the pitch. I will miss you as someone who always showed me what a wonderful job it is to be a scientist.
You made every ice cream parlor, every restaurant we went to the best one for that moment. You treated everyone with utmost respect, be it a Nobel Prize Winner or the janitor at UCI. You were an inspiration to so many of us, a great colleague and a dear friend. My thoughts and the ones of Stefan and Simon are with Emiliana, your family and all your friends. Mach’s gut, Paolo!

Paolo, You have had such an extraordinary life on so many fronts- You are remembered for your extraordinary talent, vision, creativity and mentorship. You were able to take very complex problems and solve them with apparent ease. I continue to admire you and what you accomplished, moving the field of circadian biology and metabolism huge steps forward. Paolo, you will be missed! Your brilliant mind & boundless energy/enthusiasm for research into circadian biology and metabolism has touched many. Moreover, you have been a great mentor to many in the field. My thoughts are with dear Emiliana at this time, as well as all of Paolo's many great friends and family. I so enjoyed our collaboration throughout the years and will endeavor to finish the work we started in your memory.  

Still can't get my head around this. We had so much fun for a couple of days last December when I visited and met Emiliana and we had dinner with your neighbourhood gang. Will miss our not-so-serious interactions and discussions about the important things in life ie football. Known you 30 years and hoped for at least another 20. You were taken far too young. Rest in peace my friend

Paolo, the last (and only) overseas trip I made in 2020 before this terrible pandemic was to visit you and your lab in California. I never thought for one moment that I would never see you again. I remember previous visits, one where you delayed a seminar I was giving at UC so that we could watch the Champions League live from Europe (if I remember, your beloved Napoli played and won that day). Whenever we talked via SKYPE, soccer would always be the first (and most important) thing we discussed! You introduced me to the exciting field of circadian biology and I will be forever grateful that I had the chance to collaborate with a true legend in this field. I will miss you and my thoughts are with your dear wife, Emiliana.

Paolo, I cannot remember a single time I saw you that I did not learn something profound and also share much laughter. You brought together 3 disparate fields, circadian rhythms, metabolism, and epigenetics. You were as brilliant as you were kind. The world is less bright without you.

To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends.
To appreciate beauty;
to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Paolo, you were taken from this world too soon, the shock and disbelief still echoes in our hearts. You are one of the most gifted scientists I have ever had the honor of collaborating with. Your excitement, passion, energy, and the engagement you created at our meetings was uplifting, enriching, and most of all fun. Your charisma, intelligence, and inner light shone through at every encounter we had with you. I will miss you.

Paolo, you were an exceptional scientist that has moved and will move the field of Epigenetics and Circadian forward, you were so innovative and you will live through the future from scientific discoveries that will come because of your vision... You were also an exceptional human being that touched everyone you met by your attention, your energy and joy. You were a friend and you are greatly missed.

Paolo, I will miss your energy, enthusiasm, and joy for life. Our field has lost a force of nature.

The first time I heard Paolo talk was at a meeting I attended many years ago at the Salk Institute. I was either still a postdoc or had just started at UCI. I remember thinking then that Paolo was a superb scientist and that he had a great sense of humor. More than 30 years later, my opinion remains the same. I think the saddest thing for me about Paulo’s passing is that I will no longer have those encounters (before faculty meetings, in the atrium of Sprague Hall, etc.) where Paolo would put his arm around me, tell me something highly amusing, and make me feel like he had nothing more important to do at that point in time than to make me laugh. Addio amico mio.

Paolo, you will be greatly missed. You were the scientist we all imagine to be in our dreams. An inspiration, great colleague and friend.