In memory of Professor Raffaele Casciaro

It is with profound sadness that we share the news that Prof. Raffaele Casciaro passed away on 27 July 2020. He is buried in his beloved Rossano, a small city in southeast Italy, where he was born in 1943. It is not easy to describe, in just a few sentences, the extraordinary human and scientific personality of Raffaele. He was an unattainable model to imitate, a mentor and a friend not only for us, but also for many other colleagues from outside the computational mechanics group of the University of Calabria. He left an indelible mark on the professional and personal lives of all of us and his absence arouses a deep sense of emptiness. We attempt to describe the scientific character of Raffaele and what he symbolizes to those who knew him and held him in high esteem.