Born on December 12, 1931, in Pola, his family moved to Trieste in December 1943 due to the war. He completed his middle and high school education at the local Classical High School “Dante Alighieri” and later graduated summa cum laude in Physics from the University of Trieste in July 1955.

After winning the competition for Assistant in Theoretical Physics at the University of Trieste, he received a Fulbright scholarship and moved to the United States in 1958 to serve as a Research Associate at the University of Bloomington (Indiana). In 1959, at the invitation of Robert Oppenheimer, he became a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

In March 1960, he earned the Libera Docenza (equivalent to a habilitation) in Theoretical Physics. After winning the national competition for a university chair in Theoretical Physics in November 1960, he returned to Italy in 1961, initially joining the University of Palermo and later the University of Parma. In November 1963, he was permanently appointed at the University of Trieste.

He is the author of about one hundred scientific publications and a book on quantum symmetries. His research spans various fields, from nuclear and subnuclear physics to condensed matter physics. His main areas of interest include strong interactions, symmetries and invariances, group theory and relativistic equations, nuclear reactions, nuclear fusion, threshold effects, atomic and nuclear decays, coherent rotational states in nuclei and molecules, photoelectron and Auger electron diffraction, X-ray spectroscopy, and holography from atomic sources. He has also written numerous technical and popular science articles on synchrotron light.

For his pre-tenure research, he received the Prize of the Italian Physical Society in 1960. In recognition of his scientific collaboration with the theoretical group at the University of Ljubljana, he was awarded the title of Associate Member of the Jozef Stefan Institute.

Besides his prolific research work, Luciano Fonda is recognized for leading the Scuola di Perfezionamento in Fisica, which was also open to fellows from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna and UNESCO. Known as the Advanced School of Physics, this institution operated under his leadership from 1964 to 1980, when its content and programs were merged into the newly established International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA). Luciano Fonda played a crucial role in its founding and served as its Deputy Director for six years.

He served as Director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of Trieste from 1966 to 1969 and as Dean of the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical, and Natural Sciences at the same university from 1991 to 1997. During his deanship, the Degree Program in Environmental Sciences was established. He was also Director of the Consortium for the Promotion of Studies and Research of the Physics Departments at the University of Trieste from 1980 to 1997, and President of the same “Consortium for Physics” starting in 1997. Since its founding in 1964, he has served as a consultant for the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste.

Luciano Fonda has frequently been called the “father” of the Elettra Synchrotron Light Source.

From 1980 to 1985, he was a member of the Intergovernmental Committee in Brussels responsible for selecting the site for a European 5 GeV synchrotron light source. When the project was awarded to Grenoble in 1985, he used the experience gained during those years to promote—together with his collaborator Renzo Rosei—the idea of a national facility, complementary to the European one. ELETTRA was completed in October 1993 and is now operational in Basovizza, on the Karst plateau near Trieste. Luciano Fonda served as Director of the Scientific Division of Sincrotrone Trieste from 1987 to 1991, and as Vice President from 1993 onward.

In December 1993, he received the San Giusto d’Oro Prize, which is awarded annually by Trieste journalists to a local citizen who has, through their work, brought honor to the city of Trieste both in Italy and globally.

Luciano Fonda, married to Thea Arcangeli, had three children: Alessandro, Paola, and Gabriella.

He passed away in Skradin (Croatia) on July 21, 1998.

For more information about his life and scientific work, refer to the book Luciano Fonda, His Life and Scientific Achievements, Italian Physical Society, Bologna, 2006.