Italy: death of former President Giorgio Napolitano

The Italians turn a page in their history: Giorgio Napolitano died this Friday in Rome. At 98, the former President of the Republic embodied the political Italy of the post-war period. He was one of the major players in the transition of the Italian Communist Party to the West and Europe. Parliamentarian, minister, before becoming head of state for nine years, this man of the left had recorded the fall of Berlusconi and the establishment of rigour in the nation's accounts.

Former Italian President Giorgio Napolitano. (Illustrative image) REUTERS/Thomas Peter

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With our correspondent in Rome, Anne Tréca

For 70 years, Giorgio Napolitano guided the evolution of the left in Italy. Former leader of the Communist Party, he was in 1978 the first communist received in Washington. Against Moscow, the man Henry Kissinger called "my favorite communist" had chosen European social democracy, of which he became a fervent supporter.

The first elected communist to become President of the Republic, he was even re-elected as Head of State. This is very rare in Italy. In 2011, in the midst of the financial crisis, he acknowledged Berlusconi's failure and replaced him with former European Commissioner Mario Monti. This is the era of the "president's governments", personalities not elected but chosen for their technical skills when Italy is on the verge of bankruptcy.

Enough to displease a part of the left for whom Napolitano twisted the arm of the Constitution by leaving the mainly honorary powers hitherto given to the presidents of the Republic. But for most Italians, the country is now mourning the loss of a great statesman who saved the country from bankruptcy.

The present President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, recalled the European commitment of the former Member of the Parliament of Strasbourg, who led "important battles for social development, peace and progress in Italy and Europe". In a telegram to his widow, Pope Francis praised a man who devoted his political action to preserving the "unity and concord" of his country.

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