Gaetano Gifuni (25 June 1932 – 18 August 2018) was an Italian civil servant and politician who served as Secretary General of the President from 1992 to 2006 and as Minister for Relations with the Parliament in 1987. He is the father of actor

Fabrizio Gifuni Fabrizio Gifuni (born 16 July 1966) is an Italian stage, film and television actor. He won two Silver Ribbons and two David di Donatello Award. Life and career Born in Rome, the son of the politician Gaetano, Gifuni enrolled at the Silvio D' ...

and uncle of Luigi Tripodi, former head of the Quirinale Estate and Gardens Service.

Biography

He graduated in law in 1955 and was hired by

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 ...

. On 1 January 1959, thanks to the passing of the relative competition, he entered the administration of the Senate of the Republic, of which he was appointed Secretary General on 26 June 1975. In 1987 he served as Minister for Parliamentary Relations in the Fanfani VI Government (from 17 April to 27 July 1987). Returning to the administrative top of the Senate of the Republic after the brief government break, he was appointed Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic by

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012) was an Italian politician who served as President of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1 ...

on 28 May 1992. He was confirmed in this latter office by the subsequent 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 ...

in 1999. From 1992 to 2008 he was a member of the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

. In 2006, on the eve of the inauguration of the new President of the Republic

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; 29 June 1925 – 22 September 2023) was an Italian politician who served as President of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first to be re-elected to the office. In office for 8 years and 244 days, he was the longest-serving pre ...

, he gave up to continue running the

Quirinale The Quirinal Palace ( ) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, the main official residence of the President of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and the Tenuta di Castelporziano, an estate on the outskirts of Rome, som ...

machine under the latter's mandate and therefore has been Secretary General emeritus ever since. He died in Rome on 18 August 2018, at the age of 86.

Judicial proceedings

In 2009 Gaetano Gifuni was investigated for forgery. According to the accusation, it would have been his signature that allowed his nephew Luigi Tripodi to have the assignment as service accommodation of an illegal house within the Castelporziano estate. In April 2011 he was indicted for the management of the Castelporziano estate, relating to the squandering of the funds allocated by the Quirinale to the summer estate of the President of the Republic. The accusations were of abuse of office, false material and false ideology and embezzlement. In April 2013 he was sentenced in first instance to one year and 5 months of imprisonment for abuse of office and embezzlement and acquitted of the other charges, however in the degree of appeal he was acquitted of all charges: from embezzlement "because the fact does not constitute a crime", while for the abuse of office the offense - connected to the embezzlement and from which it would therefore have been acquitted in any case - was declared extinct due to a prescription.

Honours

* : Knight 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 ...

(1975) * : Honorary Member of the

Xirka Ġieħ ir-Repubblika The Xirka Ġieħ ir-Repubblika is a society of honour that offers membership to those who have demonstrated exceptional merit in the service of Malta or of humanity. Its motto is ''Għall-Ġid tal-Maltin'' ("For the Benefit of the Maltese"). ...

(1995) * : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and ...

(1996) * : Honorary Grand Commander of the

Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia The Most Esteemed Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia () is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country and awarded by the sovereign. The order was instituted on 15 April 1966 and gazetted on 30 June 1966 ...

(2003) *: Grand Officer of the

Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay The Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay is a distinction of Uruguay created by Law No. 16300 and awarded by the Presidency of the Republic at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to foreign personalities, by reason of the princip ...

(2003) * : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

(2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gifuni, Gaetano 1932 births 2018 deaths People from Lucera Italian politicians Honorary grand commanders of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia