Luigi Mazzone (1926-2014)

Luigi Mazzone, one of the first engineers recruited by CERN, a very good
friend and a dynamic and cheerful colleague, left us peacefully on 17 October.

Born in Cairo in 1926 to Italian parents, Luigi grew up in the multi-cultural environment that was a distinctive feature of Egypt in those years, and he often liked to reminisce about it when talking to friends. Back in Italy during the war, he went to secondary school in Sienna and then studied civil engineering, first at the University of Rome and then in Pisa, where he graduated in 1951.

In 1954, while working in Rome, Luigi was selected to join the group of scientists, engineers and technicians who were moving to Geneva from all over Europe to build CERN and its accelerators even before the official creation of the Laboratory. At CERN, he joined Peter Preiswerk’s group, which was responsible for the planning and construction of buildings and for setting up the new Laboratory’s services and infrastructure. He spent several years on this activity, demonstrating his professional competence, ingenuity and enthusiasm.

When the Proton Synchrotron became operational, Luigi developed a special interest in the technique of liquid hydrogen targets, which were an important component of many high-energy experiments, and more generally in all aspects of cryogenics. Among the many targets that he designed and built, the most impressive was the target built for the NA4 experiment in the late 1970s. This target, 40 metres long, was located along the axis of a large number of magnetised iron toroids and could be filled with either liquid hydrogen or deuterium. This target was unique at the time, and probably still is today, demonstrating the very high level of expertise that Luigi had achieved in this field.

In the years that followed, Luigi was responsible for the gas purification systems of the LEP detectors and for the purification of the liquid argon used by the ICARUS experiment. The argon purity required by ICARUS was a real technical challenge, which Luigi overcame successfully.

Even after his retirement, Luigi devoted a lot of his time to teaching cryogenics theory and techniques in the CERN Cryolab. Transferring his knowledge was for him a duty and a pleasure. His courses were much attended and appreciated.

Luigi Mazzone was a friendly and charming person, always ready to help and always offering enriching discussions and useful suggestions. While remembering this dear colleague and friend, we express all our sympathy to his wife, Beatrice, his sons, Roberto and Sergio, and to his grandchildren.

His friends and former colleagues