Gaetano Martino (25 November 1900 – 21 July 1967) was an Italian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, and university teacher.

Early life and medicine

Gaetano Martino was born in 1900 in

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in t ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, son of its

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Antonino Martino Antonino may refer to: * Antonino (name), a given name and a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Antonino, Kansas Antonino is an unincorporated community in Lookout Township, Ellis County, Kansas, United States. History Due to ...

. He graduated in medicine to the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

in 1923. He worked as physician for Saint-Antoine Hospital in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. In 1934, he became teacher to the

University of Messina The University of Messina ( it, Università degli Studi di Messina; Latin: ''Studiorum Universitas Messanae''), known colloquially as UniME, is a state university located in Messina, Sicily, Italy. Founded in 1548 by Pope Paul III, it was the w ...

, and later was also dean of the University from 1943 to 1954. From 1966 to 1967, Martino was also dean of the Sapienza University of Rome.

Political career

Foreign Minister

Martino was a prominent Liberal politician. He was elected in 1948 to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

, becoming briefly Minister of Public Education in 1954, under Christian Democrat

Mario Scelba Mario Scelba (5 September 1901 – 29 October 1991) was an Italian politician who served as the 33rd prime minister of Italy from February 1954 to July 1955. A founder of the Christian Democracy, Scelba was one of the longest-serving Minister o ...

. In the late 1954, Martino became

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

after the replacement of Attilio Piccioni, involved in the Montesi Affair. He maintained his Ministry also during the Antonio Segni's Cabinet (1954-1957), but was finally removed from office by new

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 ...

Adone Zoli Adone Zoli (16 December 1887 – 20 February 1960) was an Italian politician who served as the 35th prime minister of Italy from May 1957 to July 1958; he was the first senator to have ever held the office. A member of the Christian Democrac ...

. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Martino promoted a better

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic, political, legal, social, and cultural integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integration has primarily come about through the European Union and its ...

and internationalism, first with the Messina Conference in 1955. In 1956, he obtained the Italian acceptance to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

. In the same year Martino, along with

Halvard Lange Halvard Manthey Lange (16 September 1902 – 19 May 1970) was a Norwegian politician and diplomat, who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1946-1963 and again from 1963-1965. He was also the longest serving Foreign Minister to date, h ...

from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

and

Lester Pearson Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...

from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, became a "sage" of the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

, promoting its involvement in civil areas. Martino also attended the

Treaty of Rome The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was sig ...

in 1957, establishing the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lis ...

Armoire's affair

In 1956, the newspaper ''

La Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arno ...

'' published an article where Martino said that investigations on the

German war crimes The governments of the German Empire and Nazi Germany (under Adolf Hitler) ordered, organized and condoned a substantial number of war crimes, first in the Herero and Namaqua genocide and then in the First and Second World Wars. The most no ...

in Italy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

would have a negative impact on the

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

's integration in Europe, like an internal disapprove of the NATO. In 1994, with discovery in a military base of an armoire with secret documents on Nazi war crimes in Italy, nickname "Armoire of Shame" ("''Armadio della Vergogna''"), emerged that Martino blocked the investigations to avoid a German isolation during

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

Later life

For his role in the European integration, Martino was elected President of the European Parliament in 1962. He also continued to serve as Deputy in the Italian Chamber until his death on July 1967.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martino, Gaetano 1900 births 1967 deaths Politicians from Messina Italian Liberal Party politicians Foreign ministers of Italy Education ministers of Italy Italian Ministers of Defence Candidates for President of Italy Members of the Constituent Assembly of Italy Deputies of Legislature I of Italy Deputies of Legislature II of Italy Deputies of Legislature III of Italy Deputies of Legislature IV of Italy Presidents of the European Parliament Italian Liberal Party MEPs MEPs for Italy 1958–1979 Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Sapienza University of Rome alumni 20th-century Italian physicians