”Ho conosciuto il Prof. Tullio Pozzan entrando nel suo piccolissimo gruppo nel 1987 come studentessa del Dottorato in Biologia e Patologia Molecolare e Cellulare: il primo anno c’era solo Daria Milani ma poi si sono aggiunte Susan Treves e Paola Pizzo.

Fin da subito il suo entusiasmo per la ricerca mi ha catturato ed è iniziata l’esperienza più affascinante ed emozionante della mia carriera: entrare nella vita delle cellule con dei coloranti fluorescenti disegnati dal suo carissimo amico Roger Tsien (futuro premio Nobel) con cui aveva lavorato nei primi anni 80. Con lui ogni esperimento era una sfida, un gioco, un’attesa che spesso diventava un progetto rigoroso che richiedeva dedizione totale.

Grazie a lui ho conosciuto premi Nobel e scienziati di grandissimo spessore sia italiani che stranieri. I suoi amici nella ricerca diventavano subito anche quelli dei suoi allievi in un clima di grande confidenza e collaborazione. Ma il piacere più grande era andare ai convegni e scoprire di quale stima, reverenza e affetto godeva Tullio, e le persone che lavoravano con lui subito diventavano un riferimento a loro volta, godendo della sua meritata fama.

A Tullio sono riconoscente per le numerosissime opportunità che mi ha dato, del metodo che mi ha insegnato, della passione e del rigore che mi ha comunicato ma soprattutto della libertà che mi ha lasciato di esplorare altri campi, sostenendo sempre le mie scelte anche quando si allontanavano dalla linea principale, perché apprezzava la voglia di esplorare e la curiosità. L’aiuto, la riflessione critica c’erano sempre con la cura e l’attenzione che metteva in tutto il suo lavoro. C’era per tutti e cercava il confronto e il dialogo con tutti, e in particolare con i suoi studenti. Era affamato di novità che potevano essere anche piccoli esperimenti-pilota che sapeva trasformare in sfide ambiziose facendo sempre la domanda critica e pungente che ti faceva rifare tutto, per ripartire con il piede giusto...

Voglio ricordare anche la sua grande capacità di mediazione, di dialogo e di tolleranza. Con lui si poteva arrivare allo scontro e le discussioni diventavano anche accese ma poi il dialogo tornava e non c’era posto per il rancore e l’amicizia restava generosa e senza limitazioni.

Tutti i suoi studenti di tesi di laurea e di dottorato l’hanno amato, temuto e rispettato anche quando sono diventati scienziati affermati, la sua opinione sia nelle piccole che nelle grandi questioni era sempre la più ricercata e ci mancherà tantissimo, ancora adesso vorrei potermi dire e poter dire ad altri: “chiedi consiglio a Tullio...”

Cristina Fasolato

”Il Prof. Pozzan è stato il mio mentor. Nel suo laboratorio ho fatto la tesi di laurea, sono stata “iniziata“ alla ricerca di base e poi con lui ho fatto il dottorato.

Ed è sempre lui che mi ha permesso di tornare a fare ricerca dopo 9 anni di assenza permettendomi di lavorare altri 4 anni (e non l’ho ringraziato abbastanza) in quel mondo che io adoro.

 È stato un capo eccezionale, uno di quelli da ammirare sempre e solo.

Andava bene anche quando ci sgridava perché al sabato non trovava nessuno a fare esperimenti perché... “la ricerca è passione!”

Aveva una velocità di ragionamento che mi ha sempre messo in difficoltà, una conoscenza immensa ma anche una costante passione e curiosità anche per le piccole cose che magari gli facevo notare. Rigoroso, preciso, severo ma anche umano, empatico e divertente e con i racconti sul suo passato sempre pronti.

Grazie Prof.! È stato un onore conoscerla e lavorare con lei!

(Dimenticavo... era anche un fantastico sciatore super competitivo! Difficile stargli dietro!)

Francesca Grisan

”Ieri è morto il professore Tullio Pozzan, un vero maestro, uno scienziato inarrivabile e una grande persona.

Sarebbe potuto andare ovunque, ma è rimasto qui, convinto che la buona scienza non abbia preferenze geografiche. Per la buona scienza ha fatto tanto, come fondatore del Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine, come direttore di Dipartimento al CNR e soprattutto come mentore nel suo laboratorio. lo ho avuto l'immensa fortuna di conoscerlo lì, nel suo ambiente preferito; all'epoca girava il mondo fra convegni e retreat, ma trovava sempre il tempo di venire ai Lab meeting per discutere esperimenti e risultati nei più piccoli dettagli.

Ha formato generazioni di scienziati di grande successo e grande umanità, come la mia mentore Cristina, e grazie a questo si è assicurato un eredità enorme e perpetua, che è un dono per tutti noi.

Ti saluto caro Prof, non mancherò di pensarti ad ogni sigaretta.

Onestamente non credo di poter aggiungere niente di più di quanto già dirà chi lo conosceva molto meglio di me. Per me posso solo dire che è sempre stato un modello, non per i numerosi successi che ha raggiunto, e che ovviamente fanno gola a tutti, ma per la passione e l'etica che aveva, un vero fanatico della scienza. E il suo lascito più grande è stata la sua capacità di trasmettere questa passione alle generazioni future, te per prima Cristina, e Sarino e la Paola e Giorgio, fino a Diana, Elisa e Riccardo, che porteranno avanti nei decenni un po' del suo spirito. Adesso spero solo che possa rincontrare il suo amico Roger e che insieme possano continuare ad ispirare tutti noi.

Mario Agostini

”I have many memories of prof. Pozzan, having spent seven years in his laboratory at the Department of Biomedical Sciences (this was still the appellation at the time), University of Padova. Those were probably my most formative years as a scientist, and I feel honored and incredibly lucky for having had the chance of being mentored and inspired by him. Even as I progressed in my career, I have always proudly claimed his as the laboratory that fathered me scientifically, as it did many other scientists. Obviously (and rightfully so), his fame preceded him, so no explanation was ever needed.

Starting as an undergraduate student in his lab, progressing through grad school, and deciding (with some gentle nudging, and truly a lot of help, from him) to continue my post-doctoral career abroad, I experienced different phases in the way I looked at him. Initially, I was incredibly intimidated by him, for example when he would peek into the microscope room late in the evening (always preceded by the distinctive sound of him clearing his throat), obviously looking for somebody else and barely disguising a bit of disappointment. Then he became a bit more familiar with my person and my work, so he would ask how the experiments were going. At first, it had been challenging to gather the courage and the right words to answer properly and not make a fool of myself (I probably did anyway, but he was too gracious to show it). And then came the phase when he would feel comfortable sitting down and having an actual chat with me. It usually happened later in the evening - that was his favorite moment. As a commuter, I knew that I would probably end up missing my train, but it was worth it because those chats were windows into his mind, and the opportunity to grow and expand my perspective as a scientist. As a scientist and as a person, I should say, because his culture and passion reached well beyond science, as one could appreciate during a conversation or taking a glimpse of his office, where Physiology textbooks, journals’ issues, and Art books coexisted beautifully, immersed in the aroma of his coffee and cigarettes' smoke.

I am sure that many other former students have vivid memories of moments like this, but there is one that I remember with particular fondness because it reveals how much he cared about his role as a mentor. One of those late evenings, some Ph.D. students, postdocs, and I were finishing up our things when he came into the lab. He must have had a phone interview with a perspective postdoc or a chat with a younger scientist, and they must have entered into a bit of an argument (I won’t reveal the subject for discretion, but it was the kind of thing that reveals if your understanding of cell biology went beyond the schematics that they show in textbooks). He was curious to question us, one by one, to see what side we would take (without disclosing his own). Without hesitation, we all gave the same answer and our motivations, and he visibly brightened up with pride, because he saw the effect of us being raised at the “Pozzan school”.

Even if we have lost an immense scientist, mentor, and man, the ”Pozzan school” - his scientific legacy - lives on. Not only because the scientific discoveries and techniques that he had pioneered continue to be fundamental, but because he was incredibly generous in sharing his talent with others – students, post-docs, colleagues – and he was happy and proud to see “his people” shine.

The last time I saw him was when I went back to Padova to give a seminar. Afterward, he invited me to his office to catch up over a coffee (the invitation itself felt like a huge validation to me). We discussed my research, the new projects ongoing in the lab, his intention to retire, but most of all how proud he was of the growth and successes of my former colleagues (or even trainees!) that had permanently joined the lab. He was an empowering mentor, and his legacy will continue to cast a light for us scientists to follow and will shine through each one of our discoveries and accomplishments.

Thank you for all you have done for us.
Rest in peace, prof. Pozzan.

Enrico Zampese

”Twenty-five years have passed since my stay in Pozzan lab as a graduate student. Since then, and thanks to that experience, I have built my professional life far away: but everywhere and more and more, I have been able to appreciate the good fortune of having been trained by Tullio, who taught me scientific honesty, curiosity, the need, often neglected, to have or develop adequate tools to understand biology. Of those years, I also have an affectionate memory of the humanity that spread around him to all those who were part of the adventure.

Thanks, Tullio.

Francesca DeGiorgi

”It was an honour to work in his laboratory. At the time I joined the lab there were, PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, technicians, and lectures, as illustrated in the picture, it reflects the atmosphere in the lab. I remember his sense of humour as well, and how a mistake I did during the experiments he turned out into a paella party; I compensated the error doing the paella.

Thanks, Tullio, I come back to my country with novel techniques, tools, and new ideas to grow up as a scientist. Thank you for your teachings.

Maria Francisca Cano Abad

”Ho lavorato nel laboratorio di Tullio da agosto 1993 fino ad aprile 1997. Sono stati anni indimenticabili. Tullio è stato un maestro per me. Mi ha sempre guidato, consigliato e mi ha fatto compiere passi da gigante in biologia. Senza di lui, non ce l’avrei mai fatta a vincere un concorso di professore in Francia. Aveva pure accettato di fare parte delle mia giuria di HDR (abilitazione a « dirigere » la ricerca) a Nizza. Ma Tullio era anche une persona piena di bontà. Mi ricordo che quando il mio primogenito è nato, Tullio è venuto a trovarci a casa. Non risparmiava mai il suo tempo per dare una mano. Mi ha accompagnato in questura quando avevo dei problemi coi documenti o in ospedale quando mi ero rotto il ginocchio. Ricordo anche i tramezzini ai « tre scalini » e le nostre chiacchiere sulla politica o il calcio con l’eterno confronto fra italiani e francesi.

Caro Tullio, grazie di cuore, non ti dimenticherò mai.

Robert Marsault

”I first met Tullio back in Goettingen in 1992, when the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry hosted his visit. I of course knew about his brilliant work but I remember being amazed at how open and kind he was, especially to a young postdoc like me at the time, who was nothing to him. Since then, I got to know him better at conferences and smaller meetings and then we became good friends. I would often ask Tullio for guidance and advice, and he would always put his hand on my shoulder, walk outside with me and then smoke. He would then make incisive suggestions and provide invaluable advice. He was a brilliant scientist, who revolutionized our understanding of cell physiology and mitochondrial biology in health and disease. But he was much more than that. He was always a very kind and compassionate man, and he had great integrity and humility. If he disagreed with your interpretation, he would tell you directly because good science was at his core. But he always spoke in a supportive way. These days, a lot of our colleagues are careerists, looking at how to progress, network, promote themselves, publish bad work in high impact journals and not care. But Tullio was the opposite; a true scientist, a great scholar, a man of amazing ideas, an experimentalist, and a man who knew the importance of nurturing the next generation.

He helped me in so many ways over so many years. He stood by me when many hid or turned on me. He was more than a friend; for me, he was an inspiration, a role model and someone whom I always looked up to and wanted to be like. It was a great honor for me to be invited to his 2019 retirement symposium. We have lost a giant, a titan of our field. A man who inspired generations of others and who was our leader, our Caesar. He enriched the lives of all those privileged to know him. I will miss him and his majestic presence enormously.

Anant Parekh

”When Tullio hired me as a postdoc in his lab, at the end of the interview he told me: ‘I think I can work with you, the position is yours’. I was happy, obviously, but also slightly hesitant. I was coming from a postdoc in the UK and I was worried about career prospects in Italy, the chronic shortage of funding and the politics notoriously difficult to navigate. I asked him whether there would be a possibility for me to stay after the postdoc. He replied: ‘I can offer you this job. What comes next is up to you’. He was right. Tullio was honest, at times brutally so. But he was also warm and genuine. The time I spent working with him was the most important of my entire career, the time when I learned almost everything that I know now. Talking science with Tullio was a privilege, it was always exciting. He would regularly point his finger at that little crack in your elaborate theory, leaving you thinking, yeah, I better reconsider… His energy and enthusiasm, his jovial approach, were special. The void he leaves is massive and will be very difficult to fill.

Manuela Zaccolo

”Tullio was a scientific giant with an indomitable enthusiasm and passion for life. He was a constant presence in the department, pacing the isles of the laboratory, glaring at monitors, eager to see first the next discovery.

Tullio loved to discuss science with everybody interested in science, including undergraduate students. I first met him when I was a minion in the laboratory. This meeting was memorable, because instead of getting depressed by discovering how deep my ignorance of the mysteries of living cells was (at that time the term cell biology was still rather abstract), I felt empowered by our interaction and incredibly motivated. I was not alone, as many students, postdocs and colleagues share a long-lasting memory of Tullio’s enthusiasm and passion for science similar to mine.

He impacted so many lives, and his memory will be with us forever. He will be deeply missed.

RIPO, Tullio!

Giampietro Schiavo

”Tullio was a remarkable person with so many dimensions (intellectually brilliant, creative, and with a larger-than-life personality). I love this photo of us taken at a Calcium Signalling Gordon Conference in Il Ciocco Italy because it captures so perfectly his happy and affectionate nature. The years I spent in his lab were some of the best of my life, and he continued to provide me with a sense of support long after I started my own lab.

I’m forever grateful for all that he taught me, and like all of us, can only feel a sense of major loss.

Aldebaran Hofer

”I am deeply deeply saddened by the news and I extend my deepest condolences his family and the scientific community at large. He was not just a Scientist but also a GREAT MAN, an example for humanity. No words can express the loss I feel, but in spite of this, am thankful to God for giving us a true gem of our times. A man who inspired hardworking and sacrifice for the scientific community in a humble and quiet way. I sincerely thank him for giving me a chance to work in his laboratory as PhD student and for being a shining light of hope all my life. He will be missed by the whole scientific world but although no longer amongst us we should not forget and continue what he started... He will forever have a place in my heart and that of my family. My thoughts are with his family and loved ones.

May his Soul Rest in Peace

Maulilio Kipanyula