The purpose of this short essay is to describe the figure of Vincenzo Tomeo, one of the founders and, for many years deputy editor, of Sociologia del diritto, whose untimely death in March 1990 was recently commemorated at Milan Uni-versity by the Italian association for the sociology of law. Ferrari first highlights Tomeo's virtues as a true friend and generous counsellor of younger scholars and students, before progressing to point to his major contributions as a social scientist.