Senatore Giulio Andreotti
41st Prime Minister of Italy
In office 17 February 1972 – 7 July 1973
President	Giovanni Leone
Preceded by	Emilio Colombo
Succeeded by	Mariano Rumor
In office 29 July 1976 – 4 August 1979
President	Giovanni Leone Alessandro Pertini
Deputy	Ugo La Malfa
Preceded by	Aldo Moro
Succeeded by	Francesco Cossiga
In office 22 July 1989 – 24 April 1992
President	Francesco Cossiga
Deputy	Claudio Martelli
Preceded by	Ciriaco de Mita
Succeeded by	Giuliano Amato
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 4 August 1983 – 22 July 1989
Prime Minister	Bettino Craxi Amintore Fanfani Giovanni Goria Ciriaco de Mita
Preceded by	Emilio Colombo
Succeeded by	Gianni De Michelis
Italian Minister of Defense
In office 15 February 1959 – 23 February 1966
Prime Minister	Antonio Segni Fernando Tambroni Amintore Fanfani Giovanni Leone Aldo Moro
Preceded by	Antonio Segni
Succeeded by	Roberto Tremelloni
In office 14 March 1974 – 23 November 1974
Prime Minister	Mariano Rumor
Preceded by	Mario Tanassi
Succeeded by	Arnaldo Forlani
Italian Minister of the Interior
In office 18 January 1954 – 8 February 1954
Prime Minister	Amintore Fanfani
Preceded by	Amintore Fanfani
Succeeded by	Mario Scelba
In office 11 May 1978 – 13 June 1978
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Francesco Cossiga
Succeeded by	Virginio Rognoni
Lifetime Senator
In office 19 June 1991 – 6 May 2013
Constituency	Appointment by President Cossiga
Personal details
Born	14 January 1919 Rome, Lazio, Italy
Died	6 May 2013 (aged 94) Rome, Lazio, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	Christian Democracy (1942–1994) Italian People's Party (1994–2001) European Democracy (2001–2002) Independent (2002–2008) Union of the Centre (2008–2013)[1]
Spouse(s)	Livia Danese
Children	Lamberto, Marilena, Stefano, Serena
Residence	Rome, Italy
Alma mater	University of Rome La Sapienza
Profession	Politics Journalist
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Giulio Andreotti (Italian: [ˈʤuːljo andreˈɔtti]; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician of the centrist Christian Democracy party.^[2] He served as the 41st Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992.^[3] He also served as Minister of the Interior (1954 and 1978), Defense Minister (1959–1966 and 1974) and Foreign Minister (1983–1989) and was a Senator for life from 1991 until his death in 2013.^[3] He was also a journalist and author.

Andreotti was sometimes called Divo Giulio (from Latin Divus Iulius, "Divine Julius", an epithet of Julius Caesar after his posthumous deification). During the 16th term of the Senate in 2008–2013, he opted to join the parliamentary group UDC – independence.

Contents 1 Political career 1.1 Early years 1.2 First government positions (1950s and 1960s) 1.3 Prime Minister 1.4 1980s and 1990s 1.5 1990s and 2000s 2 Mafia trial 3 Involvement in other judicial affairs 3.1 Assassination of Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa 3.2 Relationship with Michele Sindona 4 Political movement 5 Involvement in film 6 Death and legacy 7 Popular culture 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links

Political career

Early years

Andreotti was born in Rome^[3] into a family from Segni. He studied law in Rome, during which time he was member of the Federazione Universitaria Cattolica Italiana (FUCI, or Italian Catholic University Federation), which was then the only Catholic university association allowed by the Fascist government. Its members included many of the future leaders of the Italian Democrazia Cristiana (or DC, the Christian Democracy party). In July 1939, while Aldo Moro was president of FUCI,^[4] Andreotti became director of its magazine Azione Fucina. In 1942, when Moro was enrolled in the Italian Army, Andreotti succeeded him as president of FUCI, a position he held until 1944.

During his early years Andreotti suffered violent migraines that forced him to sporadically assume psychoactive drugs and opiates. ^[5]

During World War II, Andreotti wrote for the Rivista del Lavoro, a Fascist propaganda publication, but was also a member of the then clandestine newspaper Il Popolo. In 1944 he became member of the National Council of DC. After the end of the conflict, he became responsible for the youth organization of the party.

In 1946, Andreotti was elected to the Assemblea Costituente, the provisional parliament which had the task of writing the new Italian constitution. His election was supported by Alcide De Gasperi, founder of the modern DC, whose assistant Andreotti became. In 1948, he was elected to the newly formed Chamber of Deputies to represent the constituency of Rome-Latina-Viterbo-Frosinone, which remained his stronghold until the 1990s.

First government positions (1950s and 1960s)

Andreotti began his government career in 1947, when he became undersecretary to the President of the Council of Ministers in the fourth De Gasperi cabinet, a position he held until January 1954, covering all subsequent cabinets led by De Gasperi and the following one led by Giuseppe Pella. Among his actions was the signing of the act establishing the Canto degli Italiani as Italy's national anthem.

In 1954, Andreotti became Minister of the Interior. Later he was Finance Minister, and was involved in the so-called scandalo Giuffrè (a banking fraud) of 1958, due to his lack of vigilance as minister.^{[citation needed]} The Chamber of Deputies rejected all accusations against him in December of the following year. In 1961–1962 he was officially censured by the Chamber for irregularities in the construction of Rome's Fiumicino Airport.^{[citation needed]}

In the same period, Andreotti started to form a corrente (unofficial political association) within DC, which was then the largest party in Italy. His corrente was supported by the Roman Catholic right wing. It started its activity with a press campaign accusing the Deputy National Secretary of the DC, Piero Piccioni, of the murder of fashion model Wilma Montesi at Torvaianica.^[6] After eliminating De Gasperi's old followers in the DC National Council, Andreotti helped another newly formed corrente, the Dorotei, to oust Amintore Fanfani, who was on the left of the party, as Prime Minister of Italy and National Secretary of the DC.^[7]

On 20 November 1958 Andreotti, then Minister of the Treasury, was appointed President of the Organizing Committee of the 1960 Summer Olympics to be held in Rome. In the early 1960s Andreotti was Minister of Defence. This was the period of the SIFAR dossiers scandal^[8] and of the Piano Solo, a coup planned by the neo-fascist general Giovanni De Lorenzo. Andreotti, as minister, was entrusted with the destruction of the dossiers.^[9] It has been ascertained that the dossiers, before being destroyed, had been copied and given to Licio Gelli, the leader of the secret masonic lodge Propaganda 2, which was involved in numerous scandals during the 1980s, and with which Andreotti was frequently associated.

In 1968, Andreotti was named speaker of the parliamentary group of the DC, a position he held until 1972.

Prime Minister

In 1972, Andreotti began his first term as Prime Minister of Italy. He held the post in two consecutive centre-right cabinets in 1972–1973. He also held important positions in subsequent governments.

When he was Minister of Defense, he declared in an interview that the state had provided a cover for the far-right activist Guido Giannettini, investigated for the Piazza Fontana bombing.^[10] Andreotti was acquitted of having helped Giannettini.

In 1974–1976, Andreotti was Minister of Foreign Affairs. During his tenure, Italy opened and developed diplomatic and economic relationships with Arab countries of the Mediterranean Basin, a policy previously pursued only at non-government level, such as by Enrico Mattei's ENI. He also supported business and trade between Italy and Soviet Union.

In 1976, the Italian Socialist Party left the centre-left government of Aldo Moro. The ensuing elections saw the growth of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and the DC kept only a minimal advantage as the relative majority party in Italy, which was then suffering from an economic crisis and from terrorism. After the success of his party, PCI secretary Enrico Berlinguer approached DC's left-leaning leaders, Moro and Fanfani, with a proposal to bring forward the so-called "historic compromise", a political pact proposed by Moro which would see a government coalition between DC and PCI for the first time. Andreotti was called in to lead the first experiment in that direction: his new cabinet, formed in July 1976, included only DC members but had the indirect support of the other parties, except the post-fascist Movimento Sociale Italiano. This support was based on the so-called non-sfiducia ("non-challenge"), meaning that these parties would abstain in any confidence vote. This cabinet fell in January 1978.

In March 1978, the crisis was overcome by the intervention of Moro, who proposed a new cabinet, again formed only by DC politicians, but this time with positive confidence votes from the other parties, including the PCI. This cabinet was also chaired by Andreotti, and was formed on 16 March 1978, the day on which Aldo Moro was kidnapped by the communist terrorist group the Red Brigades. The dramatic situation which followed brought PCI to vote for Andreotti's cabinet for the sake of what was called "national solidarity", despite its refusal to accept several previous requests.^[11]

Andreotti's role during the kidnapping of Moro is controversial. He refused any negotiation with the terrorists, and was sharply criticized for this by Moro's family and by a segment of public opinion. Moro, during his imprisonment, wrote a statement expressing very harsh judgements against Andreotti.^[12] Moro was killed by the Red Brigades in May 1978. After his death, Andreotti continued as Prime Minister of the "National Solidarity" government with the support of the PCI. Laws approved during his tenure include the reform of the Italian National Health Service. However, when the PCI asked to participate more directly in the government, Andreotti refused, and the government was dissolved in June 1979. Due also to conflict with Bettino Craxi, Secretary of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), the other main party in Italy at the time, Andreotti did not hold any further government position until 1983.

1980s and 1990s

In 1983, Andreotti became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the first cabinet of Bettino Craxi. He held this position until 1989, among other things encouraging diplomacy between the USA and the Soviet Union and improving Italian links with Arab countries. In this respect he followed a line similar to that of Craxi, with whom he had an otherwise troubled political relationship.^[13] Andreotti supported Craxi's moves during the hijacking of the Achille Lauro ship.

On 14 April 1986, Andreotti revealed to Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham that the United States would bomb Libya the next day in retaliation for the Berlin disco terrorist attack which had been linked to Libya.^[14] As a result of the warning from Italy – a supposed ally of the US – Libya was better prepared for the bombing. Nevertheless, on the following day Libya fired two Scuds at the Italian island of Lampedusa in retaliation. However, the missiles passed over the island, landing in the sea, and caused no damage.

As Craxi's relationship with the then National Secretary of the DC, Ciriaco de Mita, was even worse, Andreotti was instrumental in the creation of the so-called "CAF triangle" (from the initials of the surnames of Craxi, Andreotti and another DC leader, Arnaldo Forlani) opposing De Mita's power. In 1989, when De Mita's government fell, Andreotti was called to succeed him. He remained Prime Minister until 1992.

This last period as Prime Minister was turbulent. Andreotti chose not to dissolve the cabinet after ministers on the left of the DC resigned after the approval of a law strengthening Silvio Berlusconi's monopoly on private television. Tension with Craxi re-emerged after the publication of letters by Moro in which Andreotti saw a role for the leader of the PSI. The Gladio scandal,^[15] the violent political declarations by President Francesco Cossiga and the first revelations of the Tangentopoli corruption scandal characterized the last years of his premiership.

1990s and 2000s

In 1992, at the end of the legislature, Andreotti resigned as Prime Minister. The previous year, Cossiga had appointed him senator for life.

Andreotti was one of the most likely candidates to succeed Cossiga as President of the Republic in 1992. He and the members of his corrente had adopted a strategy of launching his candidature only after effectively quenching all the others, including that of Forlani. However, this strategy was thwarted by the assassination of judge Giovanni Falcone in Palermo, which followed that of Salvo Lima, a Sicilian politician strongly linked to Andreotti, two months before. The national emergency which resulted led to the election of Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, a less political figure, supported also by the left.

Andreotti was untouched during the first stages of Tangentopoli, but in April 1993, after being mentioned in the declarations of several pentiti (people abandoning criminal and terrorist organizations), he was investigated for having Mafia connections. In 1994 the Democrazia Cristiana vanished from the political sphere. Andreotti joined the Italian People's Party founded by Mino Martinazzoli, abandoning it in 2001 after the creation of La Margherita.

In 2006, Andreotti stood for the presidency of the Italian Senate, but only obtained 156 votes against the 165 of Franco Marini.

On 21 January 2008 he abstained from a vote in the Senate concerning Minister Massimo D'Alema's report on foreign politics. Together with the abstentions of another life senator, Sergio Pininfarina, and of two communist senators, this caused the government to lose the vote. Consequently, Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigned. On previous occasions, Andreotti had always supported Prodi's government with his vote.

Mafia trial

Andreotti was investigated for his role in the 1979 murder of Mino Pecorelli, a journalist who had published allegations that Andreotti had links with the Mafia and with the kidnapping of Aldo Moro. A court acquitted him in 1999 after a trial that lasted three years, but he was convicted on appeal in November 2002 and sentenced to twenty-four years' imprisonment. The eighty-three-year-old Andreotti was immediately released pending an appeal. On 30 October 2003 an appeal court overturned the conviction and acquitted Andreotti of the original murder charge. That same year, the court of Palermo acquitted him of ties to the Mafia, but only on grounds of expiry of statutory terms. The court established that Andreotti had indeed had strong ties to the Mafia until 1980, and had used them to further his political career to such an extent as to be considered part of the Mafia itself.^[16]

Andreotti defended himself by saying he took harsh measures against the Mafia while in government. Andreotti's seventh government (1991–92) did take a number of decisive steps against the Mafia, thanks to the presence of anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone at the Ministry of Justice. "When he says that he took extremely harsh measures against the Mafia, he isn't lying", wrote Eugenio Scalfari, editor of the newspaper La Repubblica. "I think at a certain point in the late Eighties he realised that the Mafia could not be controlled. He awoke from his perennial distraction ... and the Mafia, which realised that it could no longer count on his protection or tolerance, assassinated his man in Sicily."^[17] His man in Palermo was Salvo Lima, who was murdered by the Mafia in March 1992. The murder of Lima was a turning point in relations between the Mafia and its political associates. The Mafia felt betrayed by Lima and Andreotti. In their opinion they had failed to block the January 1992 confirmation by the Court of Cassation (court of final appeal) of the sentence in the Maxi Trial of 1986, which had sent scores of Mafiosi to jail.^[17][18]

Involvement in other judicial affairs

Assassination of Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa

In 1982 Andreotti asked Carabinieri General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa to accept the position of Prefect of Palermo. In a note dated 2 April 1982 to Prime Minister Giovanni Spadolini, Dalla Chiesa wrote that the Sicilian membership of Democrazia Cristiana linked with Andreotti were the most infiltrated by the Mafia.^[19]

According to Mino Pecorelli's sister, Dalla Chiesa met with Pecorelli (they were both members of the secret masonic lodge Propaganda 2) a few days before the latter was assassinated in 1979. Pecorelli gave Dalla Chiesa several documents containing serious accusations against Andreotti.^[20] Just before his death in 1993, Andreotti's collaborator Franco Evangelisti described to a journalist an alleged secret meeting between Andreotti and Dalla Chiesa, during which Dalla Chiesa had shown Andreotti the complete statement of Aldo Moro (published only in 1990) containing dangerous revelations about Andreotti.^[21]

Dalla Chiesa was ambushed in his car and shot dead, together with his wife, in September 1982. The judges' reconstruction has proved that the Mafia had been planning the assassination of Dalla Chiesa since 1979, three years before he became Prefect of Palermo.^[22]

Relationship with Michele Sindona

According to the Tribunals of Perugia and Palermo, "Andreotti had long-standing relationships with people who, in several ways, were interested in the Banca Privata Italiana banker and member of masonic lodge P2, Michele Sindona."^[23]

Such relationships became closer in 1976, when Sindona's banks went bankrupt: Licio Gelli, chief of the P2 lodge, proposed a plan to save the Banca Privata Italiana to Andreotti, then Minister of Defense. Andreotti, however, could not get the plan approved by Minister of the Treasury Ugo La Malfa. Later Andreotti denied any personal involvement, declaring that the attempt to save the bank was merely institutional. Andreotti did not terminate his relationship with Sindona when the latter fled to the United States.^{[citation needed]}

Sindona, who in 1984 had been arrested, brought to Italy and condemned to life imprisonment for bankruptcy and for the assassination of Giorgio Ambrosoli, was killed by a poisoned cup of coffee in Voghera prison on 20 March 1986. Journalist and university professor Sergio Turone has suggested that Andreotti had a role in providing the poisoned sugar that caused Sindona's death, after convincing the banker that it would cause him only to faint, hoping that this would help him to be returned to the United States.^[24] According to Turone, Andreotti feared that Sindona would reveal dangerous details about his past life, after his conviction had shown that Andreotti had stopped supporting him.^[24]

Political movement

Andreotti's corrente with the DC based its political support on the eastern part of Lazio. His local supporters included politicians Franco Evangelisti, Vittorio Sbardella, nicknamed Lo Squalo ("The Shark"), and the entrepreneur Giuseppe Ciarrapico. All of them were involved in corruption scandals. Andreotti was also a friend of Court of Cassation judge Franco Vitalone, who was investigated for his role in the Moro kidnapping and in the assassination of Pecorelli,^[25] and of bishop Fiorenzo Angelini, responsible for health matters in the Vatican, who was involved in the Tangentopoli scandal.^[26]

Involvement in film

As the state undersecretary in charge of entertainment in 1949, Andreotti found a way of slowing the advance of American films while also curbing the excesses of Neorealism in Italy. The Andreotti law established import limits, screen quotas, and provided loans to Italian production firms. However, to receive a loan, a government committee had to approve the script; films with an apolitical slant were rewarded with larger sums, while films that were thought to slander Italy could be denied an export license. The Andreotti law created preproduction censorship in Italy. Vittorio de Sica's Umberto D, which depicted the lonely life of a retired man, could only strike government officials as a dangerous throwback, due to the opening scene featuring police breaking up a demonstration of old pensioners and the ending scene featuring Umberto's aborted suicide attempt. In a public letter to De Sica, Andreotti castigated him for his "wretched service to his fatherland." ^[27]

Death and legacy

Andreotti died in Rome on 6 May 2013, after suffering from respiratory problems. He was 94.^[28] The BBC described him as "one of the most prominent political figures of post-war Italy".^[28] The New York Times noted he had "a résumé of signal accomplishments and checkered failings that reads like a history of the republic".^[29] The Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, announced the death, stating that Andreotti was ""the most representative politician" Italy had known in its recent history".^[30]

Popular culture

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• In Italy, his detractors nicknamed him Belzebù (Beelzebub) or "The Prince of Darkness", because of his alleged Mafia links. Other disparaging nicknames include "The Black Pope" and "The Hunchback".^[31]
• The fictional character Don Licio Lucchesi from the movie The Godfather Part III, a high-ranking Italian politician with close ties to the Mafia, was modeled on Andreotti. Before Lucchesi was killed, his killer whispered in his ear "Power wears out those who don't have it".^{[citation needed]}
• He appeared as himself in the 1983 film Il tassinaro, alongside Alberto Sordi.^{[citation needed]}
• The Italian satirical magazine Cuore referred to Andreotti as Giulio "Lavazza" – Lavazza being a leading Italian brand of coffee. This was a reference to the alleged involvement of Andreotti in the assassination of banker and felon Michele Sindona, killed in jail with a poisoned espresso.^{[citation needed]}
• Andreotti is the subject of Paolo Sorrentino's Il Divo, winner of the Jury Prize at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.^[32] Andreotti walked out of the movie and dismissed the film, saying he believes he will in the end be judged "on his record".^[33]
• On 2 November 2008, Andreotti appeared on the entertainment program Questa Domenica ("This Sunday"), broadcast on the Italian television channel Canale 5. During his appearance, he seemed to be in difficulty and there was speculation he had suffered a stroke.^[34] Andreotti was twice asked a question and simply failed to respond, although his eyes remained open. The director cut to an advertisement break, following which Andreotti reappeared in seemingly better condition. The incident was presented as a consequence of technical difficulties.

References

Further reading

• Giuseppe Leone, "Federico II Re di Prussia e Giulio Andreotti – Due modi diversi di concepire la politica", su "Ricorditi di me...", in "Lecco 2000", gennaio 1996. (Italian)

External links

• "Les procès Andreotti en Italie" ("The Andreotti trials in Italy") by Philippe Foro, published by University of Toulouse II, Groupe de recherche sur l'histoire immédiate (Study group on contemporary history) (French)
• Il Divo a Paolo Sorrentino Film

 

Political offices
Preceded by Amintore Fanfani	Italian Minister of the Interior 1954	Succeeded by Mario Scelba
Preceded by Roberto Tremelloni	Italian Minister of Finance 1955–1958	Succeeded by Luigi Preti
Preceded by Giuseppe Medici	Italian Minister of the Treasury 1958–1959	Succeeded by Fernando Tambroni
Preceded by Antonio Segni	Italian Minister of Defense 1959–1966	Succeeded by Roberto Tremelloni
Preceded by Edgardo Lami Starnuti	Italian Minister of Industry 1966–1968	Succeeded by Mario Tanassi
Preceded by Emilio Colombo	Prime Minister of Italy 1972–1973	Succeeded by Mariano Rumor
Preceded by Mario Tanassi	Italian Minister of Defense 1974	Succeeded by Arnaldo Forlani
Preceded by Antonio Giolitti	Italian Minister of Budget 1974–1976	Succeeded by Tommaso Morlino
Preceded by Aldo Moro	Prime Minister of Italy 1976–1979	Succeeded by Francesco Cossiga
Preceded by Emilio Colombo	Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1983–1989	Succeeded by Gianni De Michelis
Preceded by Ciriaco de Mita	Prime Minister of Italy 1989–1992	Succeeded by Giuliano Amato
Preceded by Franco Piga	Italian Minister of Public Factories 1990–1992	Succeeded by Giuseppe Guarino
Preceded by Ferdinando Facchiano	Italian Minister of Culture 1991–1992	Succeeded by Alberto Ronchey
Italian Chamber of Deputies
New parliament   Parliament re-established	Member of Parliament for Rome Legislatures: CA, I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X 1946–1991	Succeeded by Title jointly held
Italian Senate
Preceded by Title jointly held	Italian Lifetime Senator Legislatures: X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII 1991 – 2013	Succeeded by Title jointly held