Italian News Headlines 26-09-2023 - Cosa Nostra mafia boss, Messina Denaro, has died of colon cancer at the age of 62. He was being held in a maximum security prison after 30 years on the run. He was responsible for dozens of murders including those of anti-mafia magistrates, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino --- Giorgio Napolitano, the only Italian President to be elected twice, has died in Rome at the age of 98 --- Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, met with European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, on the Italian island of Lampedusa to discuss the European refugee crisis after more than 7,000 migrants arrived from Tunisia in a single week --- Venetian authorities vote to introduce 'ticket only' access to the city from 2024 --- A man who posted a video of himself carving his name into the wall of the Colosseum, while his girlfriend watched, has been identified as living in Britain --- Following the death of Silvio Berlusconi, on June 12th, Antonio Tajani will be appointed the new president of Forza Italia --- Silvio Berlusconi, 4 times Italian prime minister, has died at the age of 86 from complications resulting from Leukaemia --- Extreme weather in Emilia-Romagna has led to 14 dead and 35,000 displaced. There are 500 roads closed and over over 300 sites at risk of landslides --- Two new victims of the Vesuvius eruption in 79AD have been discovered during excavations in Pompei
Giorgio Napolitano

Giorgio Napolitano

Giorgio Napolitano, a former member of the Italian Communist Party, was the 11th President of Italy from 2006 to 2015. Sometimes critically called 'King Giorgio' due to his dominence of Italian politics during this time, he is the longest serving president in the history of the Italian Republic. He is the only president to have been elected to serve two terms of office. He is also the only former communist to be elected as the head of a western power.


Giorgio Napolitano

Giorgio Napolitano was born in Naples on June 29th 1925. He graduated from the University of Naples Federico II where he was a member of the local University Fascist Youth movement, actually a breeding ground for anti-fascist ideology. Towards the end of World War II, Giorgio Napolitano was involved in the Italian resistance movement, fighting against the Germans and the Italian fascists. At the end of the war, he joined the Italian Communist Party and remained a was a member until its dissolution in 1991, when he joined the Democratic Party. In 2006 he became Independent.


Napolitano, Festa della Repubblica, 2006 - Photo: Jollyroger

After the war, he entered politics and became a champion for Southern Italy. He was first elected to the parliament in 1953, standing for Naples, and was relected in every election until 1996. He was appointed President of the Chamber of Deputies and served from 3 June 1992 until 14 April 1994. He was then appointed Minister of the Interior and served from 17 May 1996 until 21 October 1998. He served as an MEP from 1999 to 2004.


Napolitano and Obama, 2009

In 2005, he was named a senator for life by the then president, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, and was elected as president himself in 2006. Having served his full term, he was re-elected for an unprecedented second term in 2013 at the age of 87. During his two presidencies, he presided over the governments of Romano Prodi, Silvio Berlusconi, Mario Monti, Enrico Letta and Matteo Renzi. His resignation, on 14 January 2015, coincided with the end of the six month Italian Presidency of the European Union.


Napoltano with Mario Monte and his cabinet, 2011

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Giorgio Napolitano

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