Bruno Visentini (August 1, 1914 – February 13, 1995) was an Italian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

, minister,

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

and

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

Biography

Visentini was born in

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

. He graduated in law from Padua University and joined several anti-fascist student associations. In early 1943 he was arrested for being a partisan and released after July 25, the day of Benito Mussolini's resignation. While in prison, Visentini would ask his wife to bring food and clothes for all his cellmates, as well as various books to remain occupied and mentally stimulated. He was the co-founder of the Action Party (Partito d'Azione) with

Ugo La Malfa Ugo La Malfa (16 May 1903 – 26 March 1979) was an Italian politician and an important leader of the Italian Republican Party (''Partito Repubblicano Italiano''; PRI). Early years and anti-fascist resistance La Malfa was born in Palermo, Sic ...

, and took part in the resistance against the German occupation in

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

and in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. In 1946 he abandoned the Action Party and joined the

Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party (, PRI) is a political party in Italy established in 1895, which makes it the oldest political party still active in the country. The PRI identifies with 19th-century classical radicalism, as well as Mazzinianism, a ...

(PRI). He was also appointed professor at the

University of Urbino The University of Urbino Carlo Bo (, ''UniUrb'') is an Italian university located in Urbino, in the region of Marche, in north-eastern central Italy. The main campus occupies numerous buildings throughout the historic Urbino town center and the ...

. In December 1945 Visentini was nominated

undersecretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is a ...

for the

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

Alcide De Gasperi Alcide Amedeo Francesco De Gasperi (; 3 April 1881 – 19 August 1954) was an Italian politician and statesman who founded the Christian Democracy party and served as prime minister of Italy in eight successive coalition governments from 1945 t ...

's first cabinet. In 1950 he became vice-president of the Institute for Industrial Reconstruction (IRI), a position he held until 1970; while at IRI, he was chairman of

Olivetti Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines. Headquartered in Ivrea, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, the company has been owned b ...

(1963–1982, with a short interruption). In the 1972 election, Visentini was elected as a Member of Parliament for the PRI. Two years later he was elected vice-president of Confederation of Italian Industry (

Confindustria The General Confederation of Italian Industry (), commonly known as Confindustria, is the Italy, Italian small, medium, and big enterprises federation, acting as a private and autonomous chamber of commerce, founded in 1910. The association netwo ...

), but on November 23 he resigned to become

Aldo Moro Aldo Moro (; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and prominent member of Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy (DC) and its centre-left wing. He served as prime minister of Italy in five terms from December 1963 ...

's fourth government, during which he launched a program of reforms of the fiscal system. In the 1976 election Visentini was elected Senator, and in 1979 he became Minister for the Budget in

Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti ( ; ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and wikt:statesman, statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992), and was leader of th ...

's fifth government (after Ugo La Malfa's death) until he resigned the following July. He was again

when

Bettino Craxi Benedetto "Bettino" Craxi ( ; ; ; 24 February 1934 – 19 January 2000) was an Italian politician and statesman, leader of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) from 1976 to 1993, and the 45th Prime Minister of Italy, prime minister of Italy from 1 ...

held tenure as Italian Prime Minister in the 1980s. He was president of his party from 1979 to 1992,

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

twice (elected in 1979 and 1989), and also re-elected Senator in the

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and 1992 general elections. Later he left the PRI and was again elected to the

Italian Senate The Senate of the Republic (), or simply the Senate ( ), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament, the lower house being the Chamber of Deputies. The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform iden ...

in the 1994 general election, as a member of the

Alliance of Progressives The Alliance of Progressives () was a left-wing political alliance of parties in Italy formed in 1994, with relevant predecessors at local level in 1993. The leader of the alliance was Achille Occhetto. The alliance was a predecessor of the mod ...

led by Achille Occhetto. Visentini died in Rome in 1995.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Visentini, Bruno Politicians of Veneto 1914 births 1995 deaths People from Treviso Italian Republican Party politicians Action Party (Italy) politicians Ministers of finance of Italy