Studying volcanoes from Italy to the world: my encounters with Katia Krafft

This paper is a personal and professional reflection by the author on the life, scientific legacy, and influence on her own scientific career by Katia Krafft, a pioneering 20th-century female French volcanologist. Katia, along with her husband Maurice, died tragically on June 3, 1991, during a pyroclastic flow at Mount Unzen in Japan. Over 21 years of marriage, Katia and Maurice dedicated their lives to documenting volcanic activity. They visited over 300 volcanoes, witnessed around 175 eruptions, and produced over 20 illustrated books, thousands of photos, and numerous educational films. Operating in a deeply male-dominated field, Katia was the organized mind of the duo, managing funds, coordinating emergency travels, and bringing a profound artistic sensitivity to her photography. As a consequence of the Nevado del Ruiz, Colombia, tragedy in 1985, Katia focused her activities on furthering the spread of information regarding the hazards of volcanos through visual media to the non-scientific community. Katia Kraffts' greatest legacy is in transforming a personal passion for the beauty of volcanoes into a lifesaving, humanitarian mission on public safety.