Anna Maria Ciccone, or Mariannina Corradina Ciccone, was an Italian physicist.

From Sicily to Pisa

Maria Anna or Mariannina Corradina Ciccone was born on 29 August 1892 (or 1891 according to different documentsMarco Piccolino, ''Mariannina Ciccone, la tigre e i nazisti: storia di una ricerca'', in: ''Atti del Convegno in ricordo di Mariannina Ciccone'', Noto (SR), 13-15 novembre 2015, a cura di C. Spataro, Patrocinato da: Comune di Noto, FIDAPA-BPW Italy e Consorzio Universitario Mediterraneo Orientale, Effe Grafica Fratantonio, Pachino (SR), 2016') in

Noto Noto ( scn, Notu; la, Netum) is a city and in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. It is southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains. It lends its name to the surrounding area Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and i ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, of Corrado, a rich trader, and Caterina Mirmina. She got her

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...

from Regia Scuola Normale (which will later become known as Istituto Magistrale) in 1910. Since her diploma did not allow her to attend specific faculties, Mariannina signed up at the Istituto Tecnico Archimede in the third year, in

Modica Modica (; scn, Muòrica) is a city and ''comune'' of 54,456 inhabitants in the Province of Ragusa, Sicily, southern Italy. The city is situated in the Hyblaean Mountains. Modica has neolithic origins and it represents the historical capital ...

, in a

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

class where she was the only female student in the class. After the first year in the Maths faculty at

Rome university University of Rome may refer to: * Sapienza University of Rome, founded in 1303 * Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome satellite campus opened 1961 * University of Rome Tor Vergata, founded in 1982 * Roma Tre University, founded in 1992 * Fo ...

, she moved to

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

, where she graduated with high marks, and where she got a second degree in physics in 1924. The following year she was appointed assistant professor at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

Physics Institute, then she became Full Assistant and from 1931 Co-Assistant, on the proposal of the principal of

Luigi Puccianti Luigi Puccianti (; 11 June 1875 – 9 June 1952) was an Italian physicist. Career In 1899–1900, Puccianti constructed a highly sensitive spectrograph, with which he studied the infrared absorption of many compounds and attempted to correlate th ...

's Physics Institute. In 1936 she became adjunct professor in Experimental Physics. In the same year she started a period at the

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

’s Physics Institute in the Engineering school of Darmstadt in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, cooperating in

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...

research with her teacher

Gerhard Herzberg Gerhard Heinrich Friedrich Otto Julius Herzberg, (; December 25, 1904 – March 3, 1999) was a German-Canadian pioneering physicist and physical chemist, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1971, "for his contributions to the knowledge o ...

, an anti-Nazi scientist and future

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

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winner in 1971. Her teaching career highlights her full dedication to work. Her activity was entirely focused on her scientific studies in the Physics Institute, so that she even moved her residence to the same building. She started publishing her first papers in ''

Il Nuovo Cimento ''Nuovo Cimento'' is a series of peer-reviewed scientific journals of physics. The series was first established in 1855, when Carlo Matteucci and Raffaele Piria started publishing ''Il Nuovo Cimento'' as the continuation of ''Il Cimento'', wh ...

'' and in '' Memorie della società toscana di Scienze Naturali'': two articles which would lead to more complex texts in the future. In 1939 she obtained the chair of spectroscopy that she maintained until retirement; between 1943 and 1948 she kept on the active teaching of physics and of maths since she was the only teacher to remain in service.

The German attack to the University

Ciccone, one of the first women graduated in maths and physics from Pisa university, deputy manager of the institute, dared to face German troops, then occupying Italy (

Operation Achse Operation Achse (german: Fall Achse, lit=Case Axis), originally called Operation Alaric (), was the codename for the German operation to forcibly disarm the Italian armed forces after Italy's armistice with the Allies on 3 September 1943. S ...

), hence avoiding the total destruction of the building and the total removal of the instruments and the library. Between the end of June and the beginning of July 1944, a wing of the already plundered and mined building of the Institute of Physics situated in Piazza Torricelli was blown up by German soldiers. Professor Ciccone did not leave the institute for the whole period of the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

and kept on giving lessons (the only teacher after 8 September 1943). She faced the officers – she knew

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

well since she had worked in Darmstadt - confirming with extreme bravery that she would abandon her workplace for no reason, even at the risk of being blown up with the building. In front of her resolute attitude, the German officers gave up on their intent and this prevented the building and its scientific instruments from being destroyed. Both for her courageous permanence in the institute and for the courage shown against the Germans, Mariannina Ciccone was praised by the Faculty Council, and by the

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

Remo De Fazi and

Luigi Russo Luigi Russo (Verona, 28 September 1882 – Rome, 20 December 1964) was an Italian Fascist politician and civil servant, who served as Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council of the Kingdom of Italy from 1939 to 1943. He was also Chi ...

, a famous Professor of Italian studies that became dean immediately after liberation. In the draft of a letter sent to the Ministry of Education on 7 June 1946, Dean Luigi Russo said: "''I can’t help but report the merit gained by professor Ciccone during the period of the German siege concerning the preservation of scientific materials and for being always vigilant in her Institute, even when keeping safe from danger would have meant running away from it''".

After the War

On 1 November 1953 she was relocated to the department of Physics-Chemistry to continue her research on infrared rays spectroscopy. It is plausible that her relocation was the result of precise administrative choices aiming to hire other teachers in the Physics Institute. This hypothesis is confirmed by the fact that she had to face organizational problems in the new headquarters: none of the instruments required by Mariannina Ciccone for her job was available so she was asked to leave her activity. She resigned on 12 October 1954 but, even if retired, she kept on teaching as an external lecturer, in particular as a physics teacher at the Science and Spectroscopy, Experimental Physics, Terrestrial Physics and Atomic Physics Faculty. At the end of the academic years 1961–62, she was officially relieved of duty so she went back to Noto where she died on 29 March 1965.

Legacy

Although she was born in the 19th century in a city in the south, Noto, she decided to study and teach physics in Pisa, a very important international city. She tested new research methods modifying experimental equipment and preparing new observational techniques in the fields of spectroscopy and electromagnetism. In that period, the first half of 20th century, Pisa university was the core of relevant discoveries in modern physics. They were so significant that all the traditional concepts of space and time were undermined. This experience gave her the opportunity to meet important people like Polvani, Racaah,

Fermi Enrico Fermi (; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian (later naturalized American) physicist and the creator of the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and ...

, Ronchi, Salvini. The discovery and enhancement the physicist from Noto is really recent and has been promoted by Prof. Marco Piccolino and his research in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

about Nazi massacres that occurred in 1944. During his research he found out about Mariannina Ciccone's resistance against the Nazis. Prof Corrado Spataro's study has contributed to shed light on the scientist who left Noto for Pisa's Normale and devoted her soul and body to spectroscopy and light studies. Spataro writes: "''it was important, appropriate and satisfying (...). meeting and studying Mariannina Ciccone in 2015 which was the 50th anniversary of her death and dedicated by UN to the "

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...

", whose most secret components she tried to understand through the use of her

spectroscope An optical spectrometer (spectrophotometer, spectrograph or spectroscope) is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify mate ...

.''"Corrado Spataro, "La vicenda professionale e umana", in: ''Atti del Convegno in ricordo di Mariannina Ciccone'', cit., pp. 19-88, ampio contributo storico che raccoglie le testimonianze di molti allievi e conoscenti della Ciccone, in merito alla sua produzione scientifica ed alle attività didattiche svolte.

Works

* ''Spettroscopia'', GUF, Pisa, 1941. * ''Lezioni di spettroscopia'', F. Vallerini Editore, Pisa, 1947. * ''Introduzione allo studio della fisica atomica e molecolare'', F. Vallerini Editore, Pisa, 1953. * ''Elementi di fisica per i licei scientifici'', A. Signorelli, Roma, 1964.

Bibliography

* ''Atti del Convegno in ricordo di Mariannina Ciccone'', Noto (SR), 13-15 novembre 2015, a cura di C. Spataro, Patrocinato da: Comune di Noto, FIDAPA-BPW Italy e Consorzio Universitario Mediterraneo Orientale, Effe Grafica Fratantonio, Pachino (SR), 2016.