Amintore Fanfani

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Amintore Fanfani (1983)

Amintore Fanfani ( aˈmintore faˈɱfaːni ) (born February 6, 1908 in Pieve Santo Stefano , Arezzo province , †  November 20, 1999 in Rome ) was an Italian economist and politician ( DC ). He was one of the most important politicians in his country during the post-war period. From 1954 to 1959 and again from 1973 to 1975 he was Segretario (equivalent to a chairman) of his party. He was Italian Prime Minister six times , but only for a short time: 1954, 1958/59, 1960–1963, 1982/83, 1987. All in all, he was head of government for about four and a half years. He was also Italian foreign minister several times and President of the UN General Assembly in 1965/66 . Ultimately he was President of the Italian Senate from 1968–1973, 1976–1982 and 1985–1987 .

life and career

Education and scientific activity

Amintore Fanfani was born in a small town in central Tuscany. He was the eldest son of the lawyer and notary Giuseppe (Beppe) Fanfani, who was involved at the local level with the Partito Popolare Italiano , a forerunner of the Democrazia Cristiana, and his wife Anita, who came from Calabria . After graduating from the secondary school in Arezzo, he studied economics and commerce at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan . During his studies, he was a member of the Collegio Augustinianum institution for the promotion of talented students and the FUCI Catholic student union .

He completed his studies in 1930, in 1932 he became a private lecturer, was offered a chair in economic history at the University of Genoa , but followed in 1936 the call to the same chair at the Catholic University in Milan. He was also an associate professor at the Institute of Economics and Commerce at the University of Venice Ca 'Foscari. He published numerous treatises and articles as well as books on economic and social issues, some of which were also translated into other languages ​​(such as Cattolicesimo e protestantesimo nella formazione storica del capitalismo from 1934, German "Catholicism and Protestantism in the historical development of capitalism").

Fanfani adhered to the doctrine of corporatism , which he saw as a means of implementing Catholic social teaching in opposition to both economic liberalism and socialism. In 1938 he signed the anti-Semitic Manifesto della razza , in the following years he published articles in the fascist magazine La difesa della razza , in the Dottrina fascista (organ of the party school Scuola di mistica fascista ) and in the Geopolitica magazine of Minister Giuseppe Bottai . He justified the fascist colonial policy including the war of aggression against Ethiopia . On the other hand, from 1940/41 he also took part in secret meetings in the house of the philosophy professor Umberto Padovani (among others with the canon lawyer, later Resistancea fighter and Christian Democratic politician Giuseppe Dossetti ), at which about the looming crisis of fascism and the future social role of Catholics was discussed. After the overthrow of Benito Mussolini and Italy's departure from the axis on September 8, 1943 , Fanfani evaded the outbreak of civil war between fascists and anti-fascists by going to Switzerland.

Fanfani taught at the Cattolica until 1955 , even if he was already mainly involved in politics. After moving to Rome in 1948, he commuted to Milan for classes.

Political activity

Amintore Fanfani (far right) with the G7 heads of government and EU Commission President Thorn in 1983 in Williamsburg, Virginia

In 1945 he joined the newly founded Democrazia Cristiana and was elected to the Constituent Assembly for them in 1946 . The first sentence of the Italian constitution (“Italy is a democratic republic based on work”) is largely based on a formulation Fanfani used as a compromise between the proposal of the communists and socialists (“Italy is a republic of workers”) and that of the Liberals ("Italy is a republic founded on freedoms"). From 1946 until his death he was a member of the Italian Parliament without interruption - for the first five legislative periods (until 1968) as a member of the Chamber of Deputies , then as a senator .

After 1947 Fanfani was a member of the cabinet several times, including foreign minister, interior minister, agriculture minister and labor minister. He held the office of Prime Minister several times (1954, 1958/59, 1960–1963, 1982/83, 1987). He represented ideas of social reform and advocated state housing and agricultural reforms . During his tenure in 1962, the Italian electricity companies were nationalized , thereby creating the national power supply holding company Enel . Fanfani's government also carried out a school reform that created an eight-year secondary school that was compulsory for all students. In doing so, he paved the way for the Christian Democrats to open up to the left (apertura à sinistra) , which was then realized in 1963 in the coalition with the socialists under his party friend Aldo Moro .

In 1965/66 he was President of the UN General Assembly . During his tenure as Foreign Minister (1958–1959, 1962, 1965 and 1966–1968), Fanfani made special efforts to promote Italy's relations with the Arab and North African states as part of the so-called Mediterranean strategy. He also took a pro-Arab position in the Middle East conflict . In March 1972 he was appointed Senator for life by President Giovanni Leone .

Private life

In April 1939 Fanfani married Bianca Rosa Provasoli, the daughter of a textile entrepreneur, whom he had met as a student in the university library. His proposal prevented her from becoming a nun. The marriage was signed by the rector of the Catholic University, Father Agostino Gemelli . The two had seven children - two sons and five daughters. Bianca Rosa died in 1968.

Seven years after the death of his first wife, Fanfani remarried: Mariapia (or Maria Pia) Tavazzani, who was also widowed and was involved in various humanitarian projects around the world. From 1985 to 1989 she was Vice President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies .

Honors

Web links

Commons : Amintore Fanfani  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Correct pronunciation of " Amintore " and " Fanfani "
  2. ↑ Vincenzo La Russa: Amintore Fanfani. Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli 2006, pp. 5, 10.
  3. ↑ Renato Filizzola: Amintore Fanfani. Quaresime e resurrezioni. Editalia, Rome 1988, p. 7.
  4. ↑ a b c d Gabriele Pedullà (Ed.): Parole al potere. Discorsi politici italiani. BUR Rizzoli, Milan 2011, p. 734.
  5. ^ Franco Cuomo: I dieci. Chi erano gli scienziati italiani che firmarono il Manifesto della razza. Baldini Castoldi Dalai, Milan 2005, p. 23.
  6. ↑ Vincenzo La Russa: Amintore Fanfani. Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli 2006, p. 46.
  7. ^ Paolo Nicoloso: Genealogy del piano Fanfani 1939-50. In: La grande ricostruzione. Il piano INA-Casa e l'Italia degli anni '50. Donzelli, Rom 2001, pp. 33-62, on p. 56.
  8. ↑ La Russa: Amintore Fanfani. 2006, p. 53.
  9. ^ Hans Woller: History of Italy in the 20th century. CH Beck, Munich 2010, pp. 281-282.
  10. ↑ A short Italian story. Reclam, 2004, pp. 450-451.
  11. ↑ Roberto Aliboni: . Italy and the Mediterranean after World War II In: Erik Jones, Gianfranco Pasquino: The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2015, pp. 708-720, at p. 710.
  12. ↑ Taylan Özgür Kaya: The Middle East Peace Process and the EU. Foreign Policy and Security Strategy in International Politics. IB Tauris, London / New York 2012, p. 63.
  13. ↑ La Russa: Amintore Fanfani. 2006, pp. 51-52.
  14. ↑ La Russa: Amintore Fanfani. 2006, p. 308.
  15. ↑ La Russa: Amintore Fanfani. 2006, p. 371.
  16. ^ Paul Robert Bartrop : A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Genocide. Portraits of Evil and Good. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara (CA) 2012, entry Maria Pia Fanfani. P. 85.
personal data
SURNAME Fanfani, Amintore
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian politician, member of the Camera dei deputati
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Pieve Santo Stefano , Arezzo Province
DATE OF DEATH November 20, 1999
Place of death Rome