Emilio Gino Segrè

Biography

Born in Tivoli, Italy. Studied at the University of Rome under the guidance of Enrico Fermi, participating in the legendary group 'the boys from Via Panisperna'. Due to fascist laws, he emigrated to the USA in 1938, worked at the University of California, Berkeley on nuclear physics and the discovery of plutonium. In 1955, together with Owen Chamberlain, he discovered the antiproton, for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1959.

Key discoveries

• Antiproton: experimental confirmation of the existence of the antiparticle of the proton, predicted by the Dirac equation.
• Plutonium-239: jointly with Fermi's group discovered a new element, which played a key role in nuclear weapons.
• Technetium: participated in the synthesis of the first artificial element.