View source for Giovanni Spadolini

{{Short description|Italian politician (1925–1994)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[Senators for life in Italy|Senator for Life]]
|name= Giovanni Spadolini
|image= Giovanni Spadolini.jpg
|imagesize       = 215
| order            = [[List of presidents of the Senate of the Republic (Italy)|President of the Senate of the Republic]] 
| term_start       = 2 July 1987
| term_end         = 14 April 1994
| predecessor      = [[Giovanni Malagodi]]
| successor        = [[Carlo Scognamiglio]]
| order2           = [[Prime Minister of Italy]]
| president2       = [[Sandro Pertini]]
| term_start2      = 28 June 1981
| term_end2        = 1 December 1982
| predecessor2     = [[Arnaldo Forlani]]
| successor2       = [[Amintore Fanfani]]
| order3           = [[List of presidents of Italy#Substitute of the head of state|Acting President of Italy]]
| primeminister3   = [[Giulio Andreotti]]
| term_start3      = 28 April 1992
| term_end3        = 28 May 1992
| predecessor3     = [[Francesco Cossiga]]
| successor3       = [[Oscar Luigi Scalfaro]]
{{Collapsed infobox section begin|last=yes|Ministerial offices
|titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| order4           = [[Minister of Defence (Italy)|Minister of Defence]]
| primeminister4   = [[Bettino Craxi]]
| term_start4      = 4 August 1983
| term_end4        = 18 April 1987
| predecessor4     = [[Lelio Lagorio]]
| successor4       = [[Remo Gaspari]]
| order5           = [[Minister of Public Education (Italy)|Minister of Public Education]]
| primeminister5   = Giulio Andreotti
| term_start5      = 21 March 1979
| term_end5        = 5 August 1979
| predecessor5     = [[Mario Pedini]]
| successor5       = [[Salvatore Valitutti]]
| order6           = [[Minister of Culture (Italy)|Minister for Cultural Heritage and the Environment]]
| primeminister6   = [[Aldo Moro]]
| term_start6      = 21 December 1974
| term_end6        = 12 February 1976
| predecessor6     = Office established
| successor6       = [[Mario Pedini]]{{collapsed infobox section end}}
}}
{{Collapsed infobox section begin|last=yes|Parliamentary offices
|titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
 |office7 = Member of the [[Senate of the Republic (Italy)|Senate of the Republic]]
 | nominator7 = [[Francesco Cossiga]]
 |term_label7 = [[Senators for life in Italy|Life tenure]]
 |term_start7 = 2 May 1991
 |term_end7 = 4 August 1994
 |term_start8 = 25 May 1972
 |term_end8 = 1 May 1991
 |constituency8 = [[List of Italian constituencies (1946–1994)#Milan|Milan]]{{collapsed infobox section end}}
}}
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|df=yes|1925|6|21}}
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1994|8|4|1925|6|21}}
| birth_place      = [[Florence]], [[Kingdom of Italy]]
| death_place      = Rome, Italy
| party            = [[Italian Republican Party]]
| height           = {{convert|1.80|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| alma_mater       = [[University of Florence]]
| profession       = Teacher, journalist, historian
}}
{{Republicanism sidebar}}
'''Giovanni Spadolini''' ({{IPA|it|dʒoˈvanni spadoˈliːni|lang}}; 21 June 1925 &ndash; 4 August 1994) was an Italian politician and statesman, who served as the 44th [[prime minister of Italy]]. He had been a leading figure in the [[Italian Republican Party|Republican Party]] and the first head of a government to not be a member of [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democrats]] since 1945. He was also a newspaper editor, journalist and historian. He is considered a highly respected intellectual for his literary works and his cultural dimension.

Professor of Contemporary History at the [[University of Florence]], he was the author of numerous historical works. He was also a journalist and editor-in-chief of the Bolognese newspaper ''[[Il Resto del Carlino]]'', then of the Milanese newspaper ''[[Corriere della Sera|Il Corriere della Sera]]''.

Spadolini was the first [[Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities|Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage and Environment]] from 1974 to 1976. He became [[Prime Minister of Italy|Prime Minister]] in 1981 and he led two successive cabinets which were supported by a coalition of parties in Parliament but this only lasted a few months. He was [[Italian Minister of Defence|Minister of Defence]] in the governments headed by Socialist leader [[Bettino Craxi]] from 1983 to 1987 before being elected [[List of presidents of the Senate (Italy)|President of the Senate]]. In 1991, Spadolini was appointed [[Senators for life in Italy|Lifetime Senator]] by President [[Francesco Cossiga]].

==Early life==
Spadolini was born into a bourgeois family: his father [[Guido Spadolini]] was a [[Macchiaioli]] painter, owner of a large library in which the young Giovanni studied and began to form his culture inspired by secular, liberal-democratic and republican values. He was the younger brother of architect [[Pierluigi Spadolini]]. He was an assiduous student, brilliant in all subjects, at ''Liceo Classico Statale Galileo''. He published his first article in 1944 in ''Italia e Civiltà'' ("Italy and Civilisation"), a fascist periodical critical of the excesses of fascism in which the idealist philosopher Giovanni Gentile also collaborated.

During the [[post-war]] period (from 1945 to 1950) Spadolini became a moderate [[liberal conservative]]. He also rejected antisemitism in favour of [[Zionism]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Israele accoglie il "vecchio amico" Spadolini|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1992/marzo/23/Israele_accoglie_vecchio_amico_Spadolini_co_0_920323266.shtml|date=23 March 1992}}</ref> He studied law at the [[University of Florence]] and shortly after graduation was appointed Professor of Contemporary History in the Faculty of Political Science. He also became a political columnist for several newspapers, such as ''[[Il Borghese]]'', ''[[Il Messaggero]]'' and ''[[Il Mondo (magazine)|Il Mondo]]'', becoming editor-in-chief of the Bologna paper ''[[Il Resto del Carlino]]'' in 1955, doubling its circulation during his tenure. In 1968, Spadolini moved to Milan where he took over the editorship of Italy's largest newspaper, ''Corriere della Sera'', a position he held until 1972. In that year, he was elected as a senator, going on to serve as minister of the environment and then minister of education. Then in 1979, he was appointed [[general secretary|secretary]] of the small but powerful [[Italian Republican Party]] (PRI).

As a journalist, he sometimes used the pseudonym [[Giovanni dalle Bande Nere]] (Giovanni of the Black Bands).

==Prime Minister of Italy, 1981–1982==
[[File:G-7 Economic Summit Leaders at the Chateau Montebello.jpg|thumb|left|Spadolini (far right) with other national leaders during the [[G7]] summit in 1981]]
He served as [[Prime Minister of Italy]] from 1981 to 1982, the first PM since 1945 not to be a member of the [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democrats]]. He pledged to fight corruption (in particular a scandal involving certain Italian political figures connected with a [[Masonic]] lodge known as P2) and mounting terrorist violence.

In foreign policy, he was a [[non-interventionist]] but also moderately [[Americanism (ideology)|Americanist]]. In particular, he shifted away from Italy's previous pro-Arab policy, refusing to meet [[Yasser Arafat]] during his official visit to Italy to protest the murder of Stefano Gaj Taché, an Italian Jewish child, by [[PLO]] terrorists,<ref>{{cite news|title=Chi era Stefano Gaj Taché|url=http://www.ilpost.it/2015/02/03/stefano-gaj-tache-sinagoga-roma-mattarella/|date=3 February 2015}}</ref> and suggesting that the [[Bologna massacre|Bologna train station bombing]] may have been perpetrated by the PLO and [[Gaddafi]]'s [[Libya]], in spite of a majority accusing [[neo-fascism|neo-fascists]].

In 1982, after a political crisis between the Minister of the Treasury [[Beniamino Andreatta]] ([[Christian Democracy (Italy)|DC]]) and the [[Ministry of Economy and Finances (Italy)|Minister of Finance]] [[Rino Formica]] ([[Italian Socialist Party|PSI]]), Spadolini resigned and formed a new cabinet identical to the former, which collapsed in November when [[Bettino Craxi]]'s Socialist Party withdrew its support.

==Later life==
Under his leadership, the PRI obtained 5% of all votes for the first time in the [[1983 Italian general election]]. From 1987 to April 1994, he was president of the [[Italian Senate]]. He became Acting [[President of Italy]] on 28 April 1992, upon the resignation of then President [[Francesco Cossiga]], for a month. Following the electoral success of [[Silvio Berlusconi]]'s [[Forza Italia (1994)|Forza Italia]], he lost the chairmanship of the Senate to [[Carlo Scognamiglio Pasini]] by a single vote.

==Personal life and death==
Spadolini never married.<ref name=nyt/> In July 1994 he had a stomach operation.<ref name=nyt/> He died of respiratory failure in Rome in August 1994.<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|title=Giovanni Spadolini, 69, Dies; Was Key Politician in Italy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/05/obituaries/giovanni-spadolini-69-dies-was-key-politician-in-italy.html|access-date=20 January 2022|work=The New York Times|date=5 August 1994}}</ref>

==Electoral history==

{|class=wikitable style="width:55%; border:1px #AAAAFF solid"
|-
! width=12%|Election
! width=25%|House
! width=20%|Constituency
! width=5% colspan="2"|Party
! width=12%|Votes
! width=12%|Result
|-
! [[1972 Italian general election|1972]]
| [[Senate of the Republic (Italy)|Senate of the Republic]]
| [[Milan|Milan I]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Republican Party}}" |
| [[Italian Republican Party|PRI]]
| 7,231
| {{tick|15}} '''Elected'''
|-
! [[1976 Italian general election|1976]]
| [[Senate of the Republic (Italy)|Senate of the Republic]]
| [[Milan|Milan I]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Republican Party}}" |
| [[Italian Republican Party|PRI]]
| 6,862
| {{tick|15}} '''Elected'''
|-
! [[1979 Italian general election|1979]]
| [[Senate of the Republic (Italy)|Senate of the Republic]]
| [[Milan|Milan IV]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Republican Party}}" |
| [[Italian Republican Party|PRI]]
| 10,134
| {{tick|15}} '''Elected'''
|-
! [[1983 Italian general election|1983]]
| [[Senate of the Republic (Italy)|Senate of the Republic]]
| [[Milan|Milan I]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Republican Party}}" |
| [[Italian Republican Party|PRI]]
| 13,405
| {{tick|15}} '''Elected'''
|-
! [[1987 Italian general election|1987]]
| [[Senate of the Republic (Italy)|Senate of the Republic]]
| [[Milan|Milan I]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Republican Party}}" |
| [[Italian Republican Party|PRI]]
| 7,745
| {{tick|15}} '''Elected'''
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-media}}
{{s-bef|before=Vittorio Zincone}}
{{s-ttl|title=Director of the ''[[Il Resto del Carlino|Resto del Carlino]]''|years=1955–1968}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Domenico Bartoli]]}}
{{s-bef|before=Mario Ferrara}}
{{s-ttl|title=Director of the ''Nuova Antologia''|years=1955–1994}}
{{s-aft|after=Cosimo Ceccuti}}
{{s-bef|before=Alfio Russo}}
{{s-ttl|title=Director of the ''[[Corriere della Sera]]''|years=1968–1972}}
{{s-aft|after=Piero Ottone}}
{{s-aca}}
{{s-bef|before=Furio Cicogna}}
{{s-ttl|title=President of the [[Bocconi University]]|years=1976–1994}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Mario Monti]]}}
{{S-off}}
{{s-new|office}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities|Minister for Cultural Heritage and Environment]]|years=1974–1976}}
{{S-aft|after=Mario Pedini}}
{{S-bef|before=Mario Pedini}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Italian Minister of Public Instruction|Minister of Public Education]]|years=1979}}
{{S-aft|after=Salvatore Valitutti}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Arnaldo Forlani]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Italy]]|years=1981–1982}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Amintore Fanfani]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Lelio Lagorio]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Italian Minister of Defence|Minister of Defence]]|years=1983–1987}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Remo Gaspari]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Giovanni Malagodi]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[List of presidents of the Senate (Italy)|President of the Italian Senate]]|years=1987–1994}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Carlo Scognamiglio]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Francesco Cossiga]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[President of Italy]]<br />{{Small|Acting}}|years=1992}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Oscar Luigi Scalfaro]]}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Oddo Biasini]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Italian Republican Party|Secretary of the Italian Republican Party]]|years=1979–1987}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Giorgio La Malfa]]}}

{{s-end}}

{{Navboxes
|title = Giovanni Spadolini
|titlestyle = style="background:#eee;
|list =
{{Italian Presidents}}
{{Prime ministers of Italy}}
{{President of the Italian Senate}}
{{Andreotti IV Cabinet}}
{{Andreotti V Cabinet}}
{{Spadolini I Cabinet}}
{{Spadolini II Cabinet}}
{{Craxi I Cabinet}}
{{Craxi II Cabinet}}
}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Expand Italian|topic=bio|Giovanni Spadolini|date=March 2017}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spadolini, Giovanni}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian journalists]]
[[Category:Candidates for President of Italy]]
[[Category:Ministers of culture of Italy]]
[[Category:Deaths from respiratory failure]]
[[Category:Deputies of Legislature VI of Italy]]
[[Category:Deputies of Legislature VII of Italy]]
[[Category:Deputies of Legislature VIII of Italy]]
[[Category:Deputies of Legislature IX of Italy]]
[[Category:Deputies of Legislature X of Italy]]
[[Category:Ministers of defence of Italy]]
[[Category:Italian Republican Party politicians]]
[[Category:Italian life senators]]
[[Category:Italian male journalists]]
[[Category:Italian newspaper editors]]
[[Category:Politicians from Florence]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Italian Senate]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of Italy]]
[[Category:Acting presidents of Italy]]