Margherita Hack: Pioneering Astrophysicist and Scientific Advocate

Astrophysicist and clinical disseminator Margherita Hack was born in Florence on 12 June 1922. She was honored with the discovery of asteroid 8558 Hack in 1995.

Despite attending the Galileo Galilei Liceo Classico in Florence, Margherita was not able to take her exams due to World War 2. Her thesis in astrophysics focused on cepheid variables, and was based entirely on her research at Arcetri Observatory and under Giorgio Abetti's guidance. She graduated from the University of Florence in 1945. Through Margherita Hack, Abetti was considered a scientist, teacher, and medical studies middle administrator.

She achieved great success within the Littoriali, a nationwide student opposition within the fascist regime in May 1941. As a member of the opposition, she had to swear loyalty to the regime. The oath she took throughout her life was known as her "first extreme compromise".

It was in 1964 that she became a nominated full professor of Astronomy at the University of Trieste, and she was at the same time appointed director of the Astronomical Observatory of Trieste. In Italy, she was the first woman to hold such a position within the field. During her leadership of the observatory, it became "the last one in Italy"2 and became a national and international success.

In 1980, following the restructuring of Italian universities, she based the Department of Astronomy on the University of Trieste. She was the first woman to chair an Italian university's astronomy department. She focused on the study of interstellar matter and the structure of galaxies. She was awarded the Premio Severi for her research in astronomy. Due to her position as the only complete professor of the problem at that university, she was appointed department head.

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