Prof. Antonio Chiesa, the highly respected Italian radiologist and a longstanding member of Diagnostic Imaging Europe's Editorial Advisory Board, passed away in Brescia on 26 April, aged 72.

He was president of the European Congress of Radiology in 2005 and chair of the ECR Executive Committee and vice president of the European Society of Radiology in 2006. He received honorary membership of the RSNA in 2005 and was awarded the ESR Gold Medal in 2009.

“Prof. Chiesa was unquestionably a driving force and a great leader in clinical and academic radiology,” wrote Prof. Borut Marincek, president of ECR 2009, in an obituary on the ESR website. “He had a strong, persuasive power and engendered willingness for cooperation in those around him.”

Chiesa did much to strengthen radiologic research and education in Italy and the rest of Europe. In 1982 he became chair of the department of radiology and director of the Postgraduate School of Radiology at the University of Brescia, a position he held until his retirement in 2007. He was a member of the Italian Health Council at the Ministry of Health from 1993 to 1996.

His main interest was head and neck radiology, and he was president of the European Society of Head and Neck Radiology from 1994 to 1996. He was responsible for more than 150 publications and was also editor of the textbook, Diagnostic Imaging: A Clinical Guide to the Request for Examinations, which was published in Italian.

“For all his abilities and accomplishments, he was always gentle and modest. Though suffering from a serious illness, his constitution by nature was optimistic. He always knew the importance of balance between work and family. Our thoughts go to his wife, Anna Paola, three daughters, and five grandchildren,” Marincek said.