Giovanni Spadolini (21 June 1925 – 4 August 1994) was an Italian politician and statesman, who served as the 44th
prime minister of Italy
The Prime Minister of Italy, officially the President of the Council of Ministers ( it, link=no, Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is the head of government of the Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is ...
. He had been a leading figure in the
Republican Party and the first head of a government to not be a member of
Christian Democrats since 1945. He was also a newspaper editor, journalist and historian. He is considered a highly respected intellectual for his literary works and his cultural dimension.
Professor of Contemporary History at the
University of Florence
The University of Florence (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled.
History
The first univers ...
, he was the author of numerous historical works. He was also a journalist and editor-in-chief of the Bolognese newspaper ''
Il Resto del Carlino
''il Resto del Carlino'' is an Italian newspaper based in Bologna, and is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Its rather evocative name means "the change you get from a ''carlino''", which the smallest part of the Papal '' baiocco'' (no longer ...
'', then of the Milanese newspaper ''
Il Corriere della Sera''.
Spadolini was the first
Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage and Environment from 1974 to 1976. He became
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is n ...
in 1981 and he led two successive cabinets which were supported by a coalition of parties in Parliament but this only lasted a few months. He was
Minister of Defence
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in so ...
in the governments headed by Socialist leader
Bettino Craxi
Benedetto "Bettino" Craxi ( , , ; 24 February 1934 – 19 January 2000) was an Italian politician, leader of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) from 1976 to 1993, and the 45th prime minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987. He was the first PSI membe ...
from 1983 to 1987 before being elected
President of the Senate
President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies.
The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ...
. In 1991, Spadolini was appointed
Lifetime Senator by President
Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Maurizio Cossiga (; sc, Frantziscu Maurìtziu Còssiga, ; 1928 – 2010)
. was an Italian pol ...
.
Early life
Spadolini was born in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico a ...
in 1925. In his youth he worked in a public library. Spadolini was a
republican and
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
-aligned activist, and wrote for the periodical ''Italia e Civiltà'' ("Italy and Civilisation"). He was close to
Giovanni Gentile
Giovanni Gentile (; 30 May 1875 – 15 April 1944) was an Italian neo- Hegelian idealist philosopher, educator, and fascist politician. The self-styled "philosopher of Fascism", he was influential in providing an intellectual foundation for ...
, and a number of times Spadolini expressed his
anti-Freemason,
anti-liberal
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for co ...
and
anti-semitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
views. In 1944, during the
Italian Civil War
The Italian Civil War (Italian: ''Guerra civile italiana'', ) was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during World War II by Italian Fascists against the Italian partisans (mostly politically organized in the National Liberation Committe ...
, he joined the
Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...
.
During the
post-war
In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period ...
period (from 1945 to 1950) Spadolini revised his old ideas, and became a moderate
liberal conservative
Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
. He also rejected anti-semitism in favour of
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
. He studied law at the
University of Florence
The University of Florence (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled.
History
The first univers ...
and shortly after graduation was appointed Professor of Contemporary History in the Faculty of Political Science. He also became a political columnist for several newspapers, such as ''
Il Borghese'', ''
Il Messaggero
''Il Messaggero'' ( Italian : "The Messenger") is an Italian newspaper based in Rome, Italy. It has been in circulation since 1878.
History and profile
''Il Messaggero'' was founded in December 1878. On 1 January 1879, the first issue of ''Il ...
'' and ''
Il Mondo'', becoming editor-in-chief of the Bologna paper ''
Il Resto del Carlino
''il Resto del Carlino'' is an Italian newspaper based in Bologna, and is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Its rather evocative name means "the change you get from a ''carlino''", which the smallest part of the Papal '' baiocco'' (no longer ...
'' in 1955, doubling its circulation during his tenure. In 1968, Spadolini moved to Milan where he took over the editorship of Italy's largest newspaper, ''Corriere della Sera'', a position he held until 1972. In that year, he was elected as a senator, going on to serve as minister of the environment and then minister of education. Then in 1979, he was appointed
secretary
A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...
of the small but powerful
Italian Republican Party
The Italian Republican Party ( it, Partito Repubblicano Italiano, PRI) is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Italy. Founded in 1895, the PRI is the oldest political party still active in Italy.
The PRI has old roots and a long his ...
(PRI).
As a journalist, he sometimes used the pseudonym
Giovanni dalle Bande Nere
Lodovico de' Medici, also known as Giovanni delle Bande Nere (6 April 1498 – 30 November 1526) was an Italian ''condottiero''. He is known for leading the Black Bands and serving valiantly in military combat under his relatives, Pope Leo X and ...
(Giovanni of the Black Bands).
Prime Minister of Italy
He served as
Prime Minister of Italy
The Prime Minister of Italy, officially the President of the Council of Ministers ( it, link=no, Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is the head of government of the Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is ...
from 1981 to 1982, the first PM since 1945 not to be a member of the
Christian Democrats. He pledged to fight corruption (in particular a scandal involving certain Italian political figures connected with a
Masonic
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
lodge known as P2) and mounting terrorist violence.
In foreign policy, he was a
non-interventionist
Non-interventionism or non-intervention is a political philosophy or national foreign policy doctrine that opposes interference in the domestic politics and affairs of other countries but, in contrast to isolationism, is not necessarily opposed t ...
but also moderately
Americanist. In particular, he shifted away from Italy's previous pro-Arab policy, refusing to meet
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
during his official visit to Italy to protest the murder of Stefano Gaj Taché, an Italian Jewish child, by
PLO
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and st ...
terrorists,
and suggesting that the
Bologna train station bombing may have been perpetrated by the PLO and
Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spelling ...
's
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
, in spite of a majority accusing
neo-fascists.
In 1982, after a political crisis between the Minister of the Treasury
Beniamino Andreatta (
DC) and the
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...
Rino Formica (
PSI
Psi, PSI or Ψ may refer to:
Alphabetic letters
* Psi (Greek) (Ψ, ψ), the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet
* Psi (Cyrillic) (Ѱ, ѱ), letter of the early Cyrillic alphabet, adopted from Greek
Arts and entertainment
* "Psi" as an abbreviation ...
), Spadolini resigned and formed a new cabinet identical to the former, which collapsed in November when
Bettino Craxi
Benedetto "Bettino" Craxi ( , , ; 24 February 1934 – 19 January 2000) was an Italian politician, leader of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) from 1976 to 1993, and the 45th prime minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987. He was the first PSI membe ...
's Socialist Party withdrew its support.
Later life
However, under his rule, the PRI obtained 5% of all votes for the first time in the
1983 general election.
From 1987 to April 1994, he was President of the
Italian Senate
The Senate of the Republic ( it, Senato della Repubblica), or simply the Senate ( it, Senato), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Chamber of Deputies). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral s ...
. He became
Acting President of Italy on 28 April 1992, upon the resignation of President
Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Maurizio Cossiga (; sc, Frantziscu Maurìtziu Còssiga, ; 1928 – 2010)
. was an Italian pol ...
, for a month. Following the electoral success of
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...
's
Forza Italia
Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...
, he lost the chairmanship of the Senate to
Carlo Scognamiglio Pasini by a single vote.
Personal life and death
Spadolini never married.
[ In July 1994 he had a stomach operation.][ He died of respiratory failure in Rome in August 1994.]
Electoral history
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spadolini, Giovanni
1925 births
1994 deaths
20th-century Italian journalists
Candidates for President of Italy
Culture ministers of Italy
Deaths from respiratory failure
Deputies of Legislature VI of Italy
Deputies of Legislature VII of Italy
Deputies of Legislature VIII of Italy
Deputies of Legislature IX of Italy
Deputies of Legislature X of Italy
Italian Ministers of Defence
Italian Republican Party politicians
Italian life senators
Italian male journalists
Italian newspaper editors
Politicians from Florence
Presidents of the Italian Senate
Prime Ministers of Italy