Bruno Nicolai, former coordinator of the installations at LIL (LEP Injector Linacs) and EPA (Electron Positron Accumulator) passed away on 11 November 2018. Just a few hours later, his wife, Annamaria Vecchiatti, also passed away. Bruno and Annina (this is the affectionate nickname Bruno used to call his wife) got married in 1954. Their entire life is a love story, right through to their last day together.
Bruno was born in Ficarolo (Rovigo, Italy) in 1930. Besides his wife and his two daughters, Bruno actually had another big love: CERN. A mechanical engineer, Bruno arrived at CERN in 1958 and became a staff member in 1959. He obtained an indefinite contract in 1963.
When Bruno arrived at CERN, the Laboratory was in the process of giving birth to big human adventures and Bruno was passionate about interacting with the physicists, creating new experiments, and finding unexplored technical solutions to solve issues and allow scientists to carry out their experiments. At the end of 1958, Bruno took part in the g-2 experiment, which aimed at measuring the muon anomalous magnetic moment.
After the g-2 experiment, Bruno continued to develop his career: first in the SC (Synchro Cyclotron) division, and then in the MPS (Machine Proton Synchrotron) division, becoming a real expert in magnets and, in particular, in injection and ejection systems. During this period, he was able to use his wide range of knowledge, working equally successfully with high voltage equipment, hydraulics, high vacuum, controls and civil engineering. He joined the PS ejection team in 1967 and was responsible for the “Straight Flush” kicker system. In 1974, he became KM (Kicker Maintenance) section leader in the Acceleration and Ejection group under D. Bloess in the PS Division. In the 1980s, he joined the LPI (LEP Pre Injectors) group and became responsible for the coordination of all installations going into the LIL (LEP Injector Linacs) and EPA (Electron Positron Accumulator) buildings.
In the same years, he was also an active member of the “Joint Advisory Rehabilitation and Disability Board”. Bruno handled this delicate task with his usual professionalism and passion.
Bruno retired in 1990 but his passion for CERN didn’t stop and actually found another way to manifest itself: through his activity as a CERN official guide. While his health was becoming ever more precarious, letters of appreciation from schools and groups were piling up in his personal book of memories.
Bruno had a wonderful career at CERN, largely because Annina always supported him through all the difficulties, the long nights spent at CERN, the frequent trips and, towards the end of Bruno’s life, through a series of serious illnesses that never left him until he passed away.
Bruno left a mark of love in all of us, his friends, colleagues and people who had the chance to meet him. In spite of all the tough challenges life presented him with, he never lost his smile, not a fake one but a real, heartful smile. He used to make jokes about his age, swapping the figures around when it would make him younger (e.g. 75 would become 57) and he was indeed still very young when he passed away at the age of 88 (no convenient swap available, he used to laugh about it). Annina and Bruno will be sorely missed and always remembered together. A perfect circle of love and passion that makes life seem worth living.
His colleagues and friends