Rinaldo Zardini (1902 – 1988) and his legacy – 121 after his birth and 35 after his death

Rinaldo Zardini (1902–1988) was an Italian palaeontologist and botanist born in Cortina d’Ampezzo (or simply Cortina). During World War I, he attended school in Switzerland and returned to Cortina only in 1920. His father, Raffaele Zardini, was a teacher, and his mother, Antonia Verocai, was the first war photojournalist in Cortina d’Ampezzo. The Zardini family, involved in photography, opened Cortina’s first photographic shop. Rinaldo worked in the family optical business and participated in alpinism (with his sister Olga Zardini), ice hockey (Italian champion in 1932), and skiing. During World War II, he worked as a cinematographer for the Istituto Luce. In the 1930s, Rinaldo Zardini initiated botanical studies, creating an herbarium of more than 1000 plant species from around Cortina d’Ampezzo. He published works like “La flora montana e alpina di Cortina d’Ampezzo” [The mountain and alpine flora of Cortina d’Ampezzo] (1939), and “Flora di Cortina d’Ampezzo” [The flora of Cortina d’Ampezzo] (Pampani & Zardini, 1948). From 1951 to 1959, he cataloged 500 butterfly and beetle species, concluding his botanical studies in 1959. In 1935, Zardini collected his first fossil (a fossil coral). His passion palaeontology led to the biggest and most significant collections of his time, of about one million fossils. His studies focused on Middle and Upper Triassic fossils, particularly gastropods, bivalves, corals and sponges, and other marine organisms. Notable publications include “Fossili del livello di S. Cassiano” [Fossils of the San Cassian level] (1966), “Geologia e fossili delle Dolomiti di Cortina e dintorni” [Geology and fossils of the Dolomites of Cortina and surroundings] (1988) and the “Fossili cassiani” catalogues [Fossils of the S. Cassian Formation] (1978–1981). Some of these became important reference papers in Italian, European and American universities. Rinaldo Zardini received several awards, served as the President of the Istituto d’arte di Cortina, and earned an honorary degree from the University of Modena. Recognized for his contributions, he was honored the position as honorary researcher at institutions like the University of Washington and the Smithsonian Institution. In 1988, Rinaldo Zardini passed away, leaving an enduring legacy in various scientific fields. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview on this scientific legacy more than 120 years after his birth and 35 years after his death.