It is with great sorrow that Wikimedia Italia announces the death of Alessio Guidetti, better known on the projects as Cotton. He has been treasurer of the organization for about five years, from 2009 until last April.
Alessio started to contribute to Wikipedia at the end of 2006: after a few months he became already a sysop. He was a tireless translator of English articles in the most diverse fields, and also part of the small group of the patrollers -and, indeed, he continued his precious work until the last, even if invisible for most of the editors.
From the moment he joined Wikimedia Italia, Alessio was very keen to
contribute effectively, guided by his well-known pragmatism. He run for the Board: as soon as he was elected, he took the role of treasurer, a difficult task and a fundamental one for us but little recognized. It was Alessio who took care of the most delicate and complicated tasks, and he did so in the years during which Wikimedia Italia was starting to grow big, the years of our quantum leap.
This spring he decided to not run again for the Board, but he kept collaborating with his successor for an effective -and not only formal- handover. He took care of the accounting, donations and employees' paychecks till his very last days. He has been an incredible help: trustworthy, precious, always ready for a joke.
Alessio has been a pillar of Wikimedia Italia: his pragmatism, his hardworking disposition, his sense of humor were, and are, a part of our organization. A part of how it was born and how it is growing. A part of what we are.
Wikimedia Italia is close to the family and the friends of Alessio in this grievous moment.
We will terribly miss him.
Many of you have know Alessio in Wikimanias and conferences.
If you wish, you can leave a last goodbye here on his userpage: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discussioni_utente:Cotton#Ciao.
Andrea Zanni
on behalf of Wikimedia Italia