"He passed serenely, with a smile on his face," Mainardi’s wife said.
The ethologist, scholar and writer was born in Milan and graduated in Biology in 1956.
From 1967 to 1992, he taught Zoology, and then Biology and Ethology at the University of Parma.
From 1973, Mainardi directed the School of Ethology of the Scientific Cultural Centre Ettore Majorana in Erice, Sicily, and also taught Ethology of Behaviour at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice.
He was long the president of LIPU (Italian League for the Defence of Birds), and was its honorary president at the time of his death.
Besides his research and teaching, Mainardi was most popular in Italy as a regular and appreciated guest on various scientific TV programs, such as ‘Dalla parte degli animali’ (On the Animals' Side), and the scientific series ‘Quark’, the first show of its kind in Italy which was created in 1991 by legendary Italian journalist Piero Angela.
Angela paid tribute to Mainardi on Wednesday, saying that he was a "great scientist and great communicator".
Mainardi also contributed to several leading Italian newspapers, such as Corriere della Sera, and penned more than 200 publications and books.
With ANSA
