Claudio Petruccioli (born 22 March 1941) is an Italian politician and journalist. A member of the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party (, PCI) was a communist and democratic socialist political party in Italy. It was established in Livorno as the Communist Party of Italy (, PCd'I) on 21 January 1921, when it seceded from the Italian Socialist Part ...

(''Partito Comunista Italiano'', or PCI) until 1991, he has been president of Italian state-owned network,

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

, from 2005 to 2009.

Biography

Petruccioli was born in

Terni Terni ( ; ; ) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria, in Central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera (Tiber), River Nera. It is northeast ...

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

, but lived at

Foligno Foligno (; Central Italian, Southern Umbrian: ''Fuligno'') is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennine Mountains, Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clit ...

until 1958, when he moved to

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, ...

where he studied philosophy but without graduating. In 1959 he entered the Italian Communist Party and, in 1962, he became a member of the

Italian Communist Youth Federation The Italian Communist Youth Federation (, FGCI) was the youth wing of the Italian Communist Party (''Partito Comunista Italiano''; PCI), and the direct heir of the Federazione Giovanile Comunista d'Italia of the PCd'I. In 2016 it was refounded ...

. Petruccioli was the latter's national secretary from 1966 to 1969. In that year, he became regional secretary for the PCI in

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

, and was a member of the city council of

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

, in the same region, in 1970. In 1971 he moved to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. A journalist by profession, he was appointed co-director of the PCI's official newspaper, ''

L'Unità (; English: "the Unity") is an Italian newspaper, founded as the official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1924. It was supportive of that party's successor parties, the Democratic Party of the Left, Democrats of the Left, a ...

'', in 1975, becoming its director in 1981–1982. In 1976–1980 Petruccioli was also member of the Milanese

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

theater's directing council. In 1983 Petruccioli was elected to the

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

for the PCI, and, after being re-elected in 1987, he entered the PCI's national secretariat. Petruccioli was elected again to the Italian parliament in 1992, this time for the PCI's successor, the

Democratic Party of the Left The Democratic Party of the Left (, PDS) was a democratic-socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, the party was the largest in the A ...

(PDS). In 1994 he was elected for the same party, this time 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 ...

, where he stayed until 1996. In 2005 he became president of Italian state-owned television,

. He ended his mandate in 2009, after refusing a resignation request in 2007. Petruccioli in 2001 published his memories, entitled ''Rendi conto'', dealing with the first ten years of the PDS and its followers, the

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left (, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. Positioned on the centre-left, the DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger ...

(DS).

Sources

External links

Petruccioli page at the Italian Senate website, XIV legislature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petruccioli, Claudio 1941 births Living people People from Terni Italian Communist Party politicians Democratic Party of the Left politicians Democrats of the Left politicians Italian newspaper editors Italian male journalists L'Unità editors