Vincenzo Scotti is an Italian

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 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 ....

 (DC). He was Minister of the Interior

Italian Minister of the Interior

This is a list of Italian Ministers of the Interior since 1861.-Kingdom of Italy:-Italian Republic:...

 and Minister of Foreign Affairs

Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs

As in most countries, in Italy the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is one of the most important ministerial positions...

.

Biography

Born in Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, he graduated in economics at the Università di Roma La Sapienza in 1955.

In his early career he was responsible for the Centre for Research of the Workers union CISL

Italian Confederation of Workers' Trade Unions

The Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori is an Italian trade union association representing various Roman Catholic-inspired groups linked with Christian Democracy....

. In 1968 Scotti was elected as Deputy for the Christian Democracy in the Italian Parliament. Later he was Minister for Cultural Assets and Activities

Minister for Cultural Assets and Activities

The Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities is the ministry of culture of the Republic of Italy. It is based at 27 via del Collegio Romano, Rome, and the current minister is Lorenzo Ornaghi....

 (1981-82), member of the Finance Commission to the House of Deputies, Undersecretary of State to the Ministry of Budget, Labour Minister, Minister for Coordination of European Community Policies, Minister of Art and Cultural Heritage and the Environment, Minister of Civil Protections, and President of the Parliamentary Group for the Christian Democrats to the House of Deputies (the largest group of the Italian parliament with 230 deputies). He was elected Mayor of Naples in 1984.

During his term as Minister of Interior (1990-1992) laws which permitted police authorities and magistrates to act against the Mafia organisation Camorra

Camorra

The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...

 were promulgated. In collaboration with judge 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...

 and US attorney Rudy Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani

Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....

, he founded the DIA (Direzione Investigativa Antimafia), a specialised anti-mafia police force.

As Minister of Foreign Affairs, he participated in the G7 Summit in Munich

18th G7 summit

The 18th G7 Summit was held in Munich, Germany between July 6 to 8, 1992. The venue for the summit meetings was at the Residenz palace in central Munich....

 in 1992, and represented the Prime Minister in the meetings of the heads of governments of the CSCE

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections...

. During the arms embargo of Yugoslavia

United Nations Security Council Resolution 743

United Nations Security Council Resolution 743, adopted unanimously on February 21, 1992, after reaffirming resolutions 713 , 721 , 724 , 727 and 740 , and considering that the situation in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia constitutes a threat to international peace and stability, the...

 and as president of the UEO he was responsible for organisation of patrols of international waters by Italian armed forces.

Teaching career

From 1969 to 1995 he taught at the LUISS, a private university in Rome, Italy as professor of Development Economics. Currently, he is President of Link Campus University, the Italian branch of the University of Malta.

Legal issues

Scotti was one of the most important DC figures in Campania

Campania

Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...

. In the 1980s, together with many other members of the party, he was involved in a financial scandal which followed reconstruction after the 1980 Irpinia earthquake

1980 Irpinia earthquake

The 1980 Irpinia earthquake took place in the Irpinia region in Southern Italy on Sunday, November 23, 1980. Measuring 6.89 on the Richter Scale, the quake, centered on the village of Conza, killed 2,914 people, injured more than 10,000 and left 300,000 homeless. It is known in Italy as Terremoto...

, but avoided judgement due to the statute of limitations. Together with that of Antonio Gava

Antonio Gava

Antonio Gava was an Italian politician and member of Christian Democracy...

, his name was mentioned in the kidnapping and liberation of DC member Ciro Cirillo by the Italian Red Brigades

Red Brigades

The Red Brigades was a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organisation, based in Italy, which was responsible for numerous violent incidents, assassinations, and robberies during the so-called "Years of Lead"...

 terrorist group in 1981. Scotti allegedly met Camorra boss Raffaele Cutolo

Raffaele Cutolo

Raffaele Cutolo is an Italian crime boss and the charismatic leader of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata , an organisation he built to renew the Camorra. Cutolo has a variety of nicknames including "'o Vangelo" , "'o Principe" , "'o Professore" and "'o Monaco"...

 in the prison at Ascoli Piceno

Ascoli Piceno

Ascoli Piceno is a town and comune in the Marche region of Italy, capital of the province of the same name. Its population is c. 51,400.-Geography:...

 to make arrangements for the ransom to be paid with Camorra money.

Scotti was accused of corruption in scandals regarding garbage management and construction projects for the 1990 Football World Cup, but was acquitted. Italy's Court of Accounts sentenced him to pay €2,995,450 for having the Italian state buy a building in Rome at a swollen price, in order to create cash for SISDE

SISDE

Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Democratica , was the domestic intelligence agency of Italy.With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services approved on 1 August 2007, SISDE was replaced by AISI....

, Italy's secret service.