**Giovanni Ferraris**

Born in 1937 (Prarolo, Italy), Giovanni Ferraris obtained a master's degree in Physics at the University of Turin (1960) and a DSc (Libera docenza) in crystallography in 1969. He became a full professor of crystallography in 1975 at the Faculty of Sciences of Turin University. His main fields of research are hydrogen bonding, characterization of new mineral species, and modular crystallography. He is the (co-)author of 280 research papers published on peer reviewed journals, chapters of books, and of the book *Crystallography of Modular Materials* (Oxford University Press: 2004 and 2008) and has been the organizer of and speaker at national and international meetings and sections of general conferences. The high quality of his obtained results has been recognized by the following honors: Professor emeritus; dr. honoris causa at the universities of Bucharest (Romania) and Darmstadt (Germany); fellow of the National Academy of Lincei (Rome) and of the Academy of Sciences of Turin; foreign member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.
