He obtained his degree in Mathematics at the University of Torino in 1975 and he was a Full Professor at the University of Torino. He has held this position since 1980, when he was 27 years old. In addition to his many research contributions, he had also carried out an intense, deep and extended organisational and coordination activity in regards to teaching and researching in the fields of geometry, mechanics and mathematical physics. This activity took place within the renowned Turinese school of mathematical physics which had gathered at the Istituto di Fisica Matematica Joseph-Louis Lagrange, numerous illustrious scholars and researches of this discipline, among whom Cataldo Agostinelli, Bruno Barberis, Sergio Benenti, Manuelita Bonadies, Paolo Cermelli, Lorenzo Fatibene, Marco Ferraris, Dionigi Galletto, Letterio Gatto, Marco Godina, Guido Magnano, Marcella Palese, Franco Pastrone, Giovanni Rastelli, Alessandro Spallicci, Maria Luisa Tonon, Ekkehart Winterroth. A collection of scientific contributions from part of his collaborators has been published by the International Journal of Geometric Methods in Modern Physics. His scientific interests covered a wide range of topics, including the application of differential geometry in mathematical physics, classical mechanics, general relativity and field theories, calculus of variations, symmetries and conservation laws, quantization and thermodynamics. Over 300 lectures held at various institutions in Italy and abroad. He directed several national and international research projects. Francaviglia was author of over 250 papers, three monographs, 11 encyclopaedia long entries, Editor of 19 volumes of Proceedings and Director of two CIME Courses. He organized 20 national and international conferences, among which several national conferences in General Relativity and the World Conference GR14 in Florence. He was member of the Scientific Council of CNR-GNFM. Co-founder and Managing Editor of Journal of Geometry and Physics. Life member of the GRG Society, founder and President of the Italian Society for General Relativity and Gravitation, he also served as a member of the Board of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation for nine years. Francaviglia was Associate Editor of the Journal of General Relativity and Gravitation since 1999 and Managing Editor of the International Journal of Geometrical Methods in Modern Physics.
