An Italian botanist. He was a specialist on the ecology and phytogeography of tropical Africa, and also worked in plant taxonomy and pteridology.

In 1935, he graduated with a degree in Natural History from University of Florence.

From 1935 to 1958, was an assistant at the Institute of Botany in the University of Florence.

From 1958 to 1959 became a professor of botany at the University of Sassari in Sardinia.

From 1959, Rodolfo was a professor at the Institute of Botany in the University of Genoa and director of the Botanical Garden.

Pichi was a member of the Linnaean Society of London, the Botanical Society of America and the American Society of Ferns, he received the Hailé Selassié prize for his work in Ethiopia. He was also made a professor emeritus by the University of Perugia, Italy.