Paolo Bianco died suddenly on November 7^th. I still think of him sitting in his smoky office, complaining about someone, often about me. The next day he would suddenly get excited about a new idea, going far beyond what the others had been able to see. Paolo was a man of no compromise or gray zone. It was impossible to meet him and remain indifferent: people would immediately love or hate him. But scientists could most certainly only love him, for his uniquely inquisitive mind, his absolute scientific rigor, his passion for science, his incredible culture, his extraordinary, often caustic sense of humor and, most of all, his candid, genuine and profoundly good soul, masked only on the surface by his gruff character.

He made outstanding contributions to science (that will be remembered elsewhere) and to the understanding of science, as witnessed by the crowd of students who spontaneously assembled for a last tribute to one of the few, true “maestri”.

Paolo was also a paladin of science against charlatans and ruthless businessmen, exposing himself to all kinds of retaliation, but always firm in defending the science of skeletal stem cells, from the pseudo-science of “mesenchymal stem cells” and their bespoken miraculous therapeutic effects.

Finally, a personal and invaluable recent memory: less than two months ago we celebrated, to Paolo’s surprise, his 60^th birthday in Manchester. It was an impromptu dinner, ending with a chocolate cake where we wrote 60 with one pencil, as we could not find candles. Paolo looked happy, and his unusually childish smile is the last, treasured image that will remain in my mind.

Giulio Cossu, November 10^th, 2015