View source for Antonio Gava

{{Short description|Italian politician (1930–2008)}}
{{Infobox officeholder 
| honorific-prefix = 
| image          = Gava.jpg
| order         = [[Italian Minister of the Interior|Minister of the Interior]]
| primeminister = [[Ciriaco De Mita]] <br> [[Giulio Andreotti]]
| term_start    = 13 April 1988
| term_end      = 16 October 1990
| predecessor   = [[Amintore Fanfani]]
| successor     = [[Vincenzo Scotti]]
| order2        = [[Ministry of Economy and Finances (Italy)|Minister of Economy and Finances]]
| primeminister2= [[Giovanni Goria]]
| term_start2   = 28 July 1987
| term_end2     = 13 April 1988
| predecessor2  = [[Giuseppe Guarino (politician)|Giuseppe Guarino]]
| successor2    = [[Emilio Colombo]]
| order3        = [[Ministry of Communications (Italy)|Minister of Posts and Telecommunications]]
| primeminister3= [[Giovanni Goria]]
| term_start3   = 4 August 1983
| term_end3     = 28 July 1987
| predecessor3  = [[Giuseppe Guarino (politician)|Giuseppe Guarino]]
| successor3    = [[Emilio Colombo]]
| order4        = President of the [[Province of Naples]]
| term_start4   = 1960
| term_end4     = 1969
| predecessor4  = ?
| successor4    = [[Ciro Cirillo]]
| birth_date     = {{birth date|1930|7|30|df=y}}
| death_date     = {{death date and age|2008|8|8|1930|7|30|df=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Castellammare di Stabia]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]]
| death_place    = [[Rome]], [[Italy]]
| nationality    = [[Italians|Italian]]
| height         = {{convert|1.74|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| father         = [[Silvio Gava]]
| party          = [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]]}}
'''Antonio Gava''' (30 July 1930 &ndash; 8 August 2008) was an Italian [[politician]] and member of [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]] (DC). Son of the 13-time minister [[Silvio Gava]], Antonio was one of the Christian Democratic Party's leading power-brokers in [[Campania]] over a 25-year period, beginning in 1968 and ending in 1993, when he was  charged with membership of a criminal organisation.<ref name=behan142>Behan, ''The Camorra'', p. 142</ref> Together with [[Arnaldo Forlani]] and [[Vincenzo Scotti]], he was the leader of DC's current known as "Alleanza Popolare" (or "Grande centro doroteo").

==Biography==
Gava was born in  [[Castellammare di Stabia]] in the [[Province of Naples]] and graduated in law. His father was [[Silvio Gava]].<ref>{{cite thesis|author=Felia Skyle Allum|title=The Neapolitan Camorra: Crime and Politics in Post-war Naples (1950-92)|url=https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/5085/3/FulltextThesis.pdf.txt|location=Brunel University|degree=PhD|date=March 2000}}</ref> After holding some provincial and regional positions in [[Campania]] for DC, he was elected in the [[Italian Parliament]] for the first time in 1972. In 1980 he was appointed Minister of the Relationships with Parliament in the cabinet led by [[Arnaldo Forlani]]. Later he was for three times Minister of Mail and Telecommunications and two times Minister of the [[Italian Minister of the Interior|Minister of the Interior]], from 1988 to 1990.<ref name=nyt210994>[https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/21/world/italian-ex-interior-minister-is-arrested-in-raids-on-mobsters.html  Italian Ex-Interior Minister Is Arrested in Raids on Mobsters], ''The New York Times'', September 21, 1994</ref> He had to abandon the latter position when he was struck by a [[stroke]].

On 21 September 1994 he was arrested for conspiring in a "perverse circuit of criminal enterprise" with the [[Camorra]], the Neapolitan crime organization. Gava was accused of trading favors for votes mustered by the Camorra.<ref name=nyt210994/> Gava's alleged contacts in the Camorra were said to be primarily with first the group headed by [[Raffaele Cutolo]] and later with the group headed by [[Carmine Alfieri]] of Nola. According to the [[pentito]] (turncoat) [[Pasquale Galasso]], both Gava and his father initially had strong ties with [[Alfonso Rosanova]], the "spiritual father" of Cutolo.<ref name=violante>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.liberliber.it/biblioteca/i/italia/verbali_antimafia_xi_legislatura/html/violante02/44_00.htm Le indagini contro l'organizzazione criminosa di Carmine Alfieri] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708122844/http://www.liberliber.it/biblioteca/i/italia/verbali_antimafia_xi_legislatura/html/violante02/44_00.htm |date=July 8, 2007 }}, Verbali della [[Antimafia Commission|Commissione Parlamentare Antimafia]], presidenza [[Luciano Violante]]</ref><ref name=cds090493>{{in lang|it}} [http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1993/aprile/09/Gava_referente_della_camorra_co_0_9304094328.shtml Gava, " il referente " della camorra], Corriere della Sera, April 9, 1993</ref>

Together with the other Neapolitan DC's moghul of the time, Vincenzo Scotti, he was also involved in the controversial release of [[Ciro Cirillo]], kidnapped by Italian terrorist group [[Red Brigades]] in 1981. Publicly the Christian Democrats had refused to negotiate with terrorists, but privately leading politicians and members of the secret services visited Camorra boss [[Raffaele Cutolo]] in prison and asked him to negotiate with imprisoned members of the Red Brigades. A large ransom was paid to win Cirillo’s release.<ref name=stille77>Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', p. 77-78</ref>

Despite numerous accusations, Antonio Gava was acquitted after 13 years of judicial fights of all charges of being associated with the Neapolitan Camorra. He announced he would sue the state for 38 million euros to compensate damages: 3 million for loss of professional earnings, 10 million for financial damage, 10 million for moral damage and 15 million for damage to his image.<ref name=ansa080808>[http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2008-08-08_108249255.html Former minister Antonio Gava dies]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ANSA, August 8, 2008</ref>

He died on 8 August 2008 in Rome at the age of 78 after a long illness.<ref name=rep080808>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2008/08/sezioni/politica/antonio-gava/antonio-gava/antonio-gava.html Roma, è morto Antonio Gava], ''La Repubblica'', August 8, 2008</ref> He was nicknamed the 'Viceroy of Naples', due to his long reign in local politics, which was his power base for his national political career. Gava was known for his trade-mark large-brimmed hat, ivory-handled walking stick, gold ring and a cigar between his lips.<ref name=ansa080808/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*Behan, Tom (1996). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=XZA9AAAAIAAJ The Camorra]'', London: Routledge, {{ISBN|0-415-09987-0}}
*[[Alexander Stille|Stille, Alexander]] (1995). ''Excellent Cadavers. The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic'', New York: Vintage {{ISBN|0-09-959491-9}}
*{{Commons-inline}}
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{{Italian Ministers of the Interiors}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gava, Antonio}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Castellammare di Stabia]]
[[Category:Ministers of the interior of Italy]]
[[Category:Ministers of finance of Italy]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Province of Naples]]
[[Category:Christian Democracy (Italy) politicians]]
[[Category:Italian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian politicians]]