Emanuele Quercigh (born 1934 in Naples, Italy) is an Italian particle physicist who works since 1964 at CERN, most known for the discovery of quark-gluon plasma (QGP). Quercigh moved as a child to Friuli with his mother and his younger brother after the early death of his father. Quercigh studied physics at the University of Milan in Italy, where he became assistant of professor Giuseppe Occhialini in 1959. After retirement from CERN in 1999, Quercigh is honorary staff member. In the years 2000, 2001 and 2003 he was guest professor at the University of Padua.