Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
Encyclopedia
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (ˈɔskar luˈiːʤi ˈskalfaro; born September 9, 1918), Italian
politician
and magistrate, was the ninth President of the Italian Republic from 1992 to 1999, and is currently a senator for life
. Formerly a member of Christian Democracy
, he currently belongs to the centre-left Democratic party
.
, Province of Novara
.
He graduated in Law
from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
(”Catholic University of the Sacred Heart“) in Milan
on July 30, 1941 . On October 21, 1942 he entered the magistrature. In 1945, after the end of World War II
, he became a public prosecuting attorney, and to date he is the last Italian attorney to have obtained a death sentence (but the accused was pardoned before the execution could take place). In 1946 he was elected to the Constituent Assembly
and later in 1948 he became a deputy representing the district of Turin
. He was re-elected ten times in a row until 1992. Within the Democrazia Cristiana party he was associated with its left wing.
On May 25, 1992 he was elected as President of the Italian Republic, after a two week stalemate of unsuccessful attempts to reach agreement. The killing of anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone
prompted his election. His mandate ended in May 1999, and he automatically became a lifetime member of the Senate.
In recent times, Scalfaro was the chairman of the committee that advocated the abrogation, in the referendum
of June 25 and 26, 2006, of the constitutional reform that had been passed in parliament the previous year by the former center-right majority. Along with all the center-left (and a few center-right personalities, too), Scalfaro considered it to be dangerous for national unity and for other reasons. The opponents of the reform won a landslide victory in the referendum.
Scalfaro is the oldest surviving former Italian president and is the second oldest member of the Senate, after Rita Levi-Montalcini
. He consequently took the temporary presidency of the newly-elected assembly which followed the 2006 general election
, as Levi Montalcini refused the role because of her age. This made him one of the three politicians in Italian history to have presided over the three highest-ranked offices in the Italian Republic: President of the Republic, President of the Senate, and President of the Chamber of Deputies; the others are Sandro Pertini and Enrico De Nicola
).
A staunch Catholic
, and in the past a rather conservative and anti-communist
politician, Scalfaro distrusted many members of the DC who changed support to Forza Italia
and is on very bad terms with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
. He openly supported the center-left coalition, which included two communist
parties, that won the 1996 and 2006 elections. Despite his age, he also actively campaigned, for the "no" side, in the June 2006 referendum on a constitutional reform proposed by Berlusconi's House of Freedom coalition during its control of the government.
During the Second World War, in 1944, he lost his 20-year-old wife Maria Inzitari. Since then, he has not been married. He has a daughter, Marianna.
After the 2008 parliamentary election
, he was again asked to preside as pro tempore Speaker of the Senate after Rita Levi-Montalcini
again refused the post, but this time he too declined to serve.
(28 May 1992 to 15 May 1999), Military Order of Italy
, Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity
, Order of Merit for Labour
and the Order of Vittorio Veneto
. He was also awarded the Gold Medal for meritorious school, culture and art (July 31, 1973).
He also received several foreign honours:
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and magistrate, was the ninth President of the Italian Republic from 1992 to 1999, and is currently a senator for life
Senator for life
A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , 7 Italian Senators out of 322, 4 out of the 47 Burundian Senators and all members of the British House of Lords have lifetime tenure...
. Formerly a member of Christian Democracy
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....
, he currently belongs to the centre-left Democratic party
Democratic Party (Italy)
The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election....
.
Biography
Scalfaro was born in NovaraNovara
Novara is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With c. 105,000 inhabitants, it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is an important crossroads for commercial traffic along the routes from Milan to Turin...
, Province of Novara
Province of Novara
Novara is a province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Novara.It has an area of 1,339 km², and a total population of 365.156 . There are 88 communes in the province.-External links:*...
.
He graduated in Law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore is a privately-owned Catholic university founded in 1921 by Agostino Gemelli. Its main campus is located in Milan, Italy with satellite campuses in Brescia, Piacenza, Cremona, Rome, and Campobasso...
(”Catholic University of the Sacred Heart“) in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
on July 30, 1941 . On October 21, 1942 he entered the magistrature. In 1945, after the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he became a public prosecuting attorney, and to date he is the last Italian attorney to have obtained a death sentence (but the accused was pardoned before the execution could take place). In 1946 he was elected to the Constituent Assembly
Constituent assembly
A constituent assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution...
and later in 1948 he became a deputy representing the district of Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
. He was re-elected ten times in a row until 1992. Within the Democrazia Cristiana party he was associated with its left wing.
On May 25, 1992 he was elected as President of the Italian Republic, after a two week stalemate of unsuccessful attempts to reach agreement. The killing of anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone was an Sicilian/Italian prosecuting magistrate born in Palermo, Sicily. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Mafia in Sicily...
prompted his election. His mandate ended in May 1999, and he automatically became a lifetime member of the Senate.
In recent times, Scalfaro was the chairman of the committee that advocated the abrogation, in the referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
of June 25 and 26, 2006, of the constitutional reform that had been passed in parliament the previous year by the former center-right majority. Along with all the center-left (and a few center-right personalities, too), Scalfaro considered it to be dangerous for national unity and for other reasons. The opponents of the reform won a landslide victory in the referendum.
Scalfaro is the oldest surviving former Italian president and is the second oldest member of the Senate, after Rita Levi-Montalcini
Rita Levi-Montalcini
Rita Levi-Montalcini , Knight Grand Cross is an Italian neurologist who, together with colleague Stanley Cohen, received the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of nerve growth factor...
. He consequently took the temporary presidency of the newly-elected assembly which followed the 2006 general election
Italian general election, 2006
In the Italian general election, 2006 for the renewal of the two Chambers of the Parliament of Italy held on April 9 and April 10, 2006 the incumbent prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the center-right House of Freedoms, was narrowly defeated by Romano Prodi, leader of the center-left The...
, as Levi Montalcini refused the role because of her age. This made him one of the three politicians in Italian history to have presided over the three highest-ranked offices in the Italian Republic: President of the Republic, President of the Senate, and President of the Chamber of Deputies; the others are Sandro Pertini and Enrico De Nicola
Enrico De Nicola
Enrico Roberto De Nicola was an Italian jurist, journalist, politician, and the first provisional Head of State of the newborn republic of Italy from 1946 to 1948.-Biography:...
).
A staunch Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
, and in the past a rather conservative and anti-communist
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
politician, Scalfaro distrusted many members of the DC who changed support to Forza Italia
Forza Italia
Forza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....
and is on very bad terms with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
. He openly supported the center-left coalition, which included two communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
parties, that won the 1996 and 2006 elections. Despite his age, he also actively campaigned, for the "no" side, in the June 2006 referendum on a constitutional reform proposed by Berlusconi's House of Freedom coalition during its control of the government.
During the Second World War, in 1944, he lost his 20-year-old wife Maria Inzitari. Since then, he has not been married. He has a daughter, Marianna.
After the 2008 parliamentary election
Italian general election, 2008
A snap general election was held in Italy on 13 April and 14 April 2008. The election came after President Giorgio Napolitano dissolved parliament on 6 February 2008 following the defeat of the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi in a January 2008 Senate vote, and the unsuccessful tentative...
, he was again asked to preside as pro tempore Speaker of the Senate after Rita Levi-Montalcini
Rita Levi-Montalcini
Rita Levi-Montalcini , Knight Grand Cross is an Italian neurologist who, together with colleague Stanley Cohen, received the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of nerve growth factor...
again refused the post, but this time he too declined to serve.
Honours and awards
As President of the Italian Republic, Scalfaro was Head of several Italian Orders: Order of Merit of the Italian RepublicOrder of Merit of the Italian Republic
The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic was founded as the senior order of knighthood by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi in 1951...
(28 May 1992 to 15 May 1999), Military Order of Italy
Military Order of Italy
The Military Order of Italy is the highest military order of the Italian Republic and the former Kingdom of Italy. It was founded as the Military Order of Savoy, a national order by the King of Sardinia, Vittorio Emanuele I, Duke of Savoy in 1815...
, Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity
Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity
The Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity was founded as national order by the first President of the Italian Republic, Enrico De Nicola, in 1947, to recognise civilian and military expatriates or foreigners who made an outstanding contribution to the reconstruction of Italy after World War...
, Order of Merit for Labour
Order of Merit for Labour
The Order of Merit for Labour was founded as national order of chivalry in 1923 by King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy; it is awarded to those "who have been singularly meritorious" in agriculture, industry and commerce, crafts, lending and insurance. It is a continuation of the earlier Ordine al...
and the Order of Vittorio Veneto
Order of Vittorio Veneto
The military Order of Vittorio Veneto was founded as national order by the fifth President of the Italian Republic, Giuseppe Saragat, in 1968, "to express the gratitude of the nation" to those decorated with the Medaglia e Croce di Guerra al Valor Militare who had fought for at least six months in...
. He was also awarded the Gold Medal for meritorious school, culture and art (July 31, 1973).
He also received several foreign honours:
- Knight of Magistral Grace of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (1950)
- Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
- Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra MarianaOrder of the Cross of Terra MarianaThe Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana was instituted in 1995 to honour the independence of the Estonian state. The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana is bestowed upon the President of the Republic. Presidents of the Republic who have ceased to hold office shall keep the Order of the Cross of...
(Estonia) - Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)
- Knight Grand Cross of the Grand Order of King TomislavGrand Order of King TomislavThe Grand Order of King Tomislav , or more fully the Grand Order of King Tomislav with Sash and Great Morning Star , is the highest state order of the Republic of Croatia...
("For outstanding contribution to the promotion of friendship and development co-operation between the Republic of Croatia and the Italian Republic." - 17 December 1997) - Knight of the Order of the Three StarsOrder of the Three StarsOrder of the Three Stars is order awarded for merits in service for Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of founding of Latvia. Its motto is "Per aspera ad astra"...
, First Class (Latvia) - Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the GreatOrder of Vytautas the GreatThe Order of Vytautas the Great is the Lithuanian Presidential Award. It may be conferred on the heads of Lithuania and foreign states, as well as their citizens, for distinguished services to the State of Lithuania.-History:...
(Lithuania)