Emilio Colombo (; 11 April 1920 – 24 June 2013) was an Italian politician. A member of the

Christian Democracy Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

party, he served as

Prime Minister of Italy The prime minister of Italy, officially the president of the Council of Ministers (), is the head of government of the Italy, Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is established by articles 92–96 of the Co ...

from August 1970 to February 1972. In 2003, he was appointed

senator for life A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , five Italian senators out of 205, two out of the 41 Burundian senators, one Congolese senator out of 109, and all members of the Bri ...

, a seat he held until his death. During his long political career, Colombo held many offices in several governments. He served as Minister of Agriculture from 1955 to 1958; from 1958 to 1959; Minister of Grace and Justice from 1970 to 1972; Minister of Treasury from 1963 to 1970, in 1962 and from 1974 to 1976; Minister of Budget in 1968 and from 1987 to 1988;

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 ...

from 1988 to 1989; and

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 1980 to 1983 and from 1992 to 1993. A fervent Europeanist, he also served as

president of the European Parliament The president of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. They also represent the Parliament within the European Union (EU) and internationally. The president's signature is required for Euro ...

from 1977 to 1979.

Early life and education

Colombo was born in

Potenza Potenza (, ; ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania). Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital and one of ...

Basilicata Basilicata (, ; ), also known by its ancient name Lucania (, , ), is an administrative region in Southern Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south. It has two coastlines: a 30-kilometr ...

, on 11 April 1920.Page at Senate website
He grew up, along with his six brothers, in a middle-class family; his father, Angelo Colombo, was a public administration's official, while his mother, Rosa Tordella, was a housewife. In 1935, he founded the first local section of

Catholic Action Catholic Action is a movement of Catholic laity, lay people within the Catholic Church which advocates for increased Catholic influence on society. Catholic Action groups were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic cou ...

(AC), a widespread Catholic association and one of the few non-fascist organizations, admitted by the regime of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

. In 1937, Colombo became the president of Potenza's Catholic Action and a member of the National Council of Catholic Action's Youth. In the same year, he obtained the classical lyceum diploma at the high school entitled to

Quintus Horatius Flaccus Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC),Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman Lyric poetry, lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Oc ...

in Potenza. In 1941, Colombo graduated in law at the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

, with a thesis on

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

. On 1 August 1942, he was enrolled and took part in the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In September 1943, after the armistice, Colombo returned to Basilicata, starting his political commitment based on

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

and

Christian democratic Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

principles. From 1944 to 1947, he was appointed general secretary of Azione Cattolica's youth wing.

Political career

Colombo entered politics as a member of the

(DC) party in 1943. In the 1946 Italian general election, Colombo was elected to the

Constituent Assembly of Italy The Italian Constituent Assembly ( Italian: ''Assemblea Costituente della Repubblica Italiana'') was a parliamentary chamber which existed in Italy from 25 June 1946 until 31 January 1948. It was tasked with writing a constitution for the Ital ...

with nearly 21,000 votes, becoming one of the youngest members of the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament () is the national parliament of the Italy, Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingd ...

. He was elected for the constituency of Potenza–Matera, which would remain his stronghold for all his political career. Segni De Gasperi Colombo

After two years, in the 1948 Italian general election, Colombo was re-elected in the country's

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 Bourb ...

for his constituency with more than 43,000 votes. From May 1948 to July 1951, he was appointed undersecretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests in the 5th and 6th governments of

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 ...

. During these years, Colombo was involved in a successful mediation in

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

in 1949 during clashes for the occupations of the lands by peasants. He also collaborated with minister Antonio Segni in the approval of the agrarian reform. The

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

, approved by the parliament in October 1950, was financed in part by the funds of the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred $13.3 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in economic recovery pr ...

launched by the United States in 1947 and considered by some scholars as the most important reform of the entire post-war period. The reform proposed, through forced expropriation, the distribution of land to agricultural laborers, thus making them small entrepreneurs and no longer subject to the large landowner. If in some ways the reform had this beneficial result, for others it significantly reduced the size of farms, effectively removing any possibility of transforming them into advanced businesses. This negative element was mitigated and in some cases eliminated by forms of

cooperatives A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

Prime Minister of Italy

A number of progressive reforms were introduced during Colombo's time as prime minister. A housing reform law of 22 October 1971 introduced new criteria for land expropriations and provisions for urban renewals. Under a law of 6 December 1971, state funds were made available for the construction of a kindergarten in every local authority. A law of 30 December 1971 introduced new regulations covering protection of female workers and maternity insurance. The duration of maternity leave was extended two months prior to, and two months after confinement for all employees, and all female workers were entitled to an earnings-related indemnity, equal to 80% of earnings, including agricultural workers and tenant farmers. Also introduced was an entitlement to voluntary extra period of leave for six months during the first year of the child's life, with job security and an indemnity equal to 30% of earnings, together with an entitlement to paid absences due to the child's sickness during the first three years if the child's life. In addition, a special natality allowance was introduced for self-employed women in the agricultural, artisan, and commercial sectors. Emilio_Colombo_datisenato

Between 1977 and 1979, Colombo was the president of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. From 1980 to 1983 and again from 1992 to 1993, he was foreign minister of Italy.

Later life

In 2003, then president

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician, statesman and banker who was the President of Italy from 1999 to 2006 and the Prime Minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994. A World War II veteran, C ...

bestowed Italy's highest political honour on him by nominating him senator for life. In the first five years as a lifetime senator, he was an

independent politician An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or Bureaucracy, bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicia ...

. From 2008 until his death in June 2013, Colombo was a member of the

For the Autonomies For the Autonomies (, Aut) is a heterogeneous, mostly centrist, centre-left and regionalist, parliamentary group which has been active, with slightly different names and compositions, in the Italian Senate since 2001. History The group was for ...

group, formed mainly by elects in

Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol ( ; ; ), often known in English as Trentino-South Tyrol or by its shorter Italian name Trentino-Alto Adige, is an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy, located in the ...

. After the inconclusive 2023 Italian general election and the following difficulties of the Senate of the Republic in electing a presiding officer, Colombo became its provisional president until the election of Pietro Grasso on 16 March 2013. The oldest senator, former prime minister

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 ...

was due to inaugurate the new legislature but his unavailability benefited Colombo. After the death of Andreotti on 6 May 2013, Colombo became the last surviving member of the

Italian Constituent Assembly The Italian Constituent Assembly ( Italian: ''Assemblea Costituente della Repubblica Italiana'') was a parliamentary chamber which existed in Italy from 25 June 1946 until 31 January 1948. It was tasked with writing a constitution for the Itali ...

Personal life

In November 2003, Colombo admitted to having used cocaine for therapeutic purposes over a 12- to 18-month period. He died in Rome on 24 June 2013 at the age of 93.

Honours and awards

* France: Grand Officier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

* Iran: Commemorative Medal of the

2,500 year celebration of the Persian Empire The 2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire, officially known as the 2,500-year celebration of the Empire of Iran (), was hosted by the Pahlavi dynasty in the Imperial State of Iran in October 1971. Concentrated at Persepolis, it consisted ...

* Italy: Knight of Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

* Italy: Grand Cross of the

Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (; ), also historically referred to as the Imperial Constantinian Order of Saint George and the Order of the Constantinian Angelic Knights of Saint George, is a dynastic order of knighthood ...

* EU: Gold Medal of the Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe, 2011

Electoral history

References

External links