Vittorio Bachelet (; 20 February 1926 – 12 February 1980) was an Italian academic and

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 ...

, former

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

of the High Council of the Judiciary. On 12 February 1980, he was ambushed and murdered by the

Red Brigades The Red Brigades ( , often abbreviated BR) were an Italian far-left Marxist–Leninist militant group. It was responsible for numerous violent incidents during Italy's Years of Lead, including the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro in 1978, ...

Biography

After having attended the Azione Cattolica association, Bachelet joined the

Italian Catholic Federation of University Students The Italian Catholic Federation of University Students (, FUCI) is a federation of groups representing Roman Catholic university students in Italy. History On December 8, 1889, it was founded in Rome the Saint Sebastian Circle which published the ...

and 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 ...

, where he later taught. He also taught in other Universities in

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

and

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

. In 1959, Bachelet was appointed vice president of

Azione Cattolica The Azione Cattolica Italiana, or Azione Cattolica (English: Catholic Action) for short, is a widespread Roman Catholic lay association in Italy. Members believe that priests have an ethical and religious duty to support the rights of the oppress ...

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

, while in 1964 he was appointed President by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

. Bachelet joined

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 ...

, being very close to

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 ...

, and in 1976 was elected vice president of the High Council of the Judiciary (elected by all the political parties in the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

), after having been for a few months a city councilor 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, ...

. On 12 February 1980, at the end of a lesson, while talking with his assistant

Rosy Bindi Maria Rosaria "Rosy" Bindi (; born 12 February 1951) is an Italian politician and former president of the Antimafia Commission. She began her political career in Christian Democracy (DC), becoming a member of the European Parliament in 1989. Aft ...

, Bachelet was shot and killed by an armed group of the

, on the mezzanine of the staircase of the Faculty of Political Sciences of

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

. His funeral took place two days later at the San Roberto Bellarmino Church and was attended by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Sandro Pertini Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio "Sandro" Pertini (; 25 September 1896 – 24 February 1990) was an Italian socialist politician and statesman who served as President of Italy from 1978 to 1985. Early life Born in Stella (province of Savona) as t ...

and

Prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Francesco Cossiga Francesco Maurizio Cossiga (; , ; 1928 – 2010)
. was an Italian politician who served as President of ...

. He was the father of Giovanni Battista Bachelet, teacher of Physics at

and

Deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

for the Democratic Party from 2008 to 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bachelet, Vittorio 1926 births 1980 deaths Italian Roman Catholics Christian Democracy (Italy) politicians 20th-century Italian politicians Assassinated Italian politicians Italian terrorism victims People murdered in Lazio Deaths by firearm in Italy European politicians assassinated in the 1980s Politicians assassinated in 1980