Pasquale Montagna, MD, one of the most outstanding clinical neuroscientists and great leaders of the world of contemporary research on primary headache, died prematurely on December 9, 2010 at the age of 60 after courageously battling cancer for almost two and a half years. He never hid the fact that he was ill; he was aware of what was going to happen to him as he talked about it and tried to weigh up his life both in terms of achievements and failures. The example he set and the enthusiasm he conveyed over the years make us feel his absence so keenly.