Giorgio Ruffolo (14 August 1926 – 16 February 2023) was an Italian economist, journalist and politician who held several government posts and was the minister of environment for five years between 1987 and 1992 in four successive cabinets. He was a member of the now defunct

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...

and a significant socialist intellectual. He is known to be the founder of

economic planning Economic planning is a resource allocation mechanism based on a computational procedure for solving a constrained maximization problem with an iterative process for obtaining its solution. Planning is a mechanism for the allocation of resources ...

in Italy.

Biography

Ruffolo was born on 14 August 1926 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, ...

. He was part of the Italian Socialist Youth Federation. He headed the research and public relations department of

Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...

between 1956 and 1962. He joined the Italian Socialist Party and was elected to the Italian Parliament in 1983. Ruffolo was the president and cofounder of the Europa Research Center (Centro Europa Ricerche), a Rome-based research institute in applied economic analysis with a special reference to the central issues for Italian and

European economic policy The economy of the European Union is the joint economy of the member states of the European Union (EU). It is the second largest economy in the world in nominal terms, after the United States, and the third largest at purchasing power parit ...

. The other founders of the institute included Antonio Pedone and

Luigi Spaventa Luigi Spaventa (5 March 1934 – 6 January 2013) was an Italian politician and academic. He served as a cabinet minister at different Italian governments. He was a member of the Italian Parliament from 1976 to 1983. Early life and education Spa ...

. Ruffolo was also the president of a public

investment company An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under th ...

, Finanziaria Meridionale, which had been established to improve the

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

Southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

. From 1987 to 1992, Ruffolo was the minister of environment. Although he was an economist by profession, he published various publications on environment, which made him one of the most qualified environment ministers of Italy. During his term, the ministry published the first report about the environmental conditions in the country. Another significant event was the closure of the Farmoplant in

Massa Massa may refer to: Places Italy *Province of Massa and Carrara, province in the Tuscany region of Italy * Duchy of Massa and Carrara, controlled the towns of Massa di Carrara and Carrara * Roman Catholic Diocese of Massa Marittima-Piombi ...

in July 1988 following a massive explosion which had caused environmental pollution in the Massa coastline. Ruffolo also served in 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 ...

for three terms: 17 July 1979–30 September 1983; 19 July 1994–19 July 1999 and 20 July 1999–19 July 2004. Ruffolo was a contributor to the Italian edition of ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'' and Italian newspaper ''

La Repubblica (; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and l ...

''. Ruffolo died in Rome on 16 February 2023, at the age of 96.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruffolo, Giorgio 20th-century Italian journalists 21st-century Italian journalists 1926 births 2023 deaths Ministers of the environment of Italy HuffPost bloggers Italian Socialist Party politicians Democratic Party of the Left politicians Democrats of the Left politicians Democratic Party (Italy) politicians Italian Socialist Party MEPs Journalists from Rome MEPs for Italy 1979–1984 MEPs for Italy 1994–1999 MEPs for Italy 1999–2004 Deputies of Legislature IX of Italy Deputies of Legislature X of Italy Deputies of Legislature XI of Italy Politicians from Rome La Repubblica people 20th-century Italian economists Italian ecologists Sapienza University of Rome alumni