Antonio Segni | |
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4th President of Italy | |
In office 11 May 1962 – 6 December 1964 | |
Prime Minister | Amintore Fanfani Giovanni Leone Aldo Moro |
Preceded by | Giovanni Gronchi |
Succeeded by | Giuseppe Saragat |
34th Prime Minister of Italy | |
In office 15 February 1959 – 25 March 1960 | |
President | Giovanni Gronchi |
Preceded by | Amintore Fanfani |
Succeeded by | Fernando Tambroni |
In office 6 July 1955 – 19 May 1957 | |
President | Giovanni Gronchi |
Preceded by | Mario Scelba |
Succeeded by | Adone Zoli |
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 25 March 1960 – 7 May 1962 | |
Prime Minister | Fernando Tambroni Amintore Fanfani |
Preceded by | Giuseppe Pella |
Succeeded by | Amintore Fanfani |
Italian Minister of the Interior | |
In office 15 February 1959 – 25 March 1960 | |
Prime Minister | Himself |
Preceded by | Fernando Tambroni |
Succeeded by | Giuseppe Spataro |
Italian Minister of Defense | |
In office 1 July 1958 – 15 February 1959 | |
Prime Minister | Amintore Fanfani |
Preceded by | Paolo Emilio Taviani |
Succeeded by | Giulio Andreotti |
Italian Minister of Education | |
In office 17 August 1953 – 18 January 1954 | |
Prime Minister | Giuseppe Pella |
Preceded by | Giovanni Bettiol |
Succeeded by | Egidio Tosato |
In office 26 July 1951 – 16 July 1953 | |
Prime Minister | Alcide De Gasperi |
Preceded by | Guido Gonnella |
Succeeded by | Giovanni Bettiol |
Italian Minister of Agriculture | |
In office 13 July 1946 – 26 July 1951 | |
Prime Minister | Alcide De Gasperi |
Preceded by | Fausto Gullo |
Succeeded by | Amintore Fanfani |
Personal details | |
Born | Sassari, Sardinia, Italy | 2 February 1891
Died | 1 December 1972 Rome, Latium, Italy | (aged 81)
Political party | Christian Democracy |
Spouse | Laura Carta Camprino |
Antonio Segni (Italian pronunciation: [anˈtɔnjo ˈseɲɲi]; 2 February 1891 – 1 December 1972) was an Italian politician who was the 35th Prime Minister of Italy (1955–1957, 1959–1960), and the fourth President of the Italian Republic from 1962 to 1964. Adhering to the centrist Christian Democratic party (Italian: Democrazia Cristiana – DC), he was the first Sardinian ever to become Prime Minister of Italy.
The son of a Sardinian landowning family, born in Sassari, Sardinia, he studied to become a lawyer with a degree in agricultural and commercial law. Segni joined the Italian People's Party (Italian: Partito Popolare Italiano) – the predecessor of the Christian Democratic Party – in 1919. In 1924 he was a member of the party’s national council, until all political organizations were dissolved by Benito Mussolini two years later in 1926. For the next 17 years Segni taught Agrarian Law for at the Universities of Pavia, Perugia, and Cagliari; he was also rector of Sassari University.
In 1943 Segni was one of the organizers of the new Christian Democratic Party in Sardinia. He held ministerial positions in many Christian Democrat governments from 1944 onward, despite his frail physique. Time Magazine once quoted a friend: "He is like the Colosseum; he looks like a ruin but he'll be around for a long time."[1] In 1946, he was elected to the Constituent Assembly after World War II and then to parliament in 1948.
Segni made his reputation as Minister of Agriculture (1946–1951) under Alcide de Gasperi. He favoured land reform legislation and ordered the expropriation of most of his own estate in Sardinia.[2] He became known as a “white Bolshevik” for his introduction of agrarian reform.
He became Prime Minister in 1955, succeeding Mario Scelba. During Segni’s government the treaties instituting the European Economic Community (EEC) were signed on 25 March 1957, and Italy co-founded the community.
In March 1959, he became Prime Minister again, succeeding Amintore Fanfani, in whose government he had been Minister of Defense.[3] In social policy, various reforms in social welfare were carried out. A law of 21 March 1959 extended insurance against occupational diseases to agricultural workers (for 7 diseases). A law of 17 May 1959 introduced a special additional indemnity for retired civil servants; a monthly supplement, indexed to the cost of living. A law of 4 July 1959 extended pension insurance to artisans.[4]
Segni was elected President of the Italian Republic on 6 May 1962 (854 to 443 votes).[1] He suffered a serious cerebral hemorrhage while working at the presidential palace on 7 August 1964. At the time he was 73 years old and the first prognosis were not positive. He only partially recovered, and he retired from office on 6 December 1964. In the interim, the President of the Senate Cesare Merzagora served as acting president.
Politically, Segni was a moderate conservative opposed to "opening to the centre-left" enabling coalition governments between the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and the Christian Democrats. Segni was later accused of having tried to instigate a coup d'état (known as Piano Solo) along with General Giovanni De Lorenzo during his presidency to frustrate the opening to the left.[5]
Segni was also a professor of law at University of Sassari. Straightforward, witty and courteous, Segni was more at ease in the classroom or the law court than in the back rooms of Italian politics.[2] He died on 1 December 1972, in Rome. The frail, often ailing Segni, was affectionately called malato di ferro—"the invalid with the iron constitution".[6]
Segni's son, Mariotto Segni, is also a prominent Italian politician.
Antonio Segni | |
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Succession boxes |
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Political offices
Preceded byFausto Gullo
Italian Minister of Agriculture 1946–1951
Succeeded byAmintore Fanfani
Preceded byGuido Gonnella
Italian Minister of Public Instruction 1951–1953
Succeeded byGiovanni Bettiol
Preceded byGiovanni Bettiol
Italian Minister of Public Instruction 1953–1954
Succeeded byEgidio Tosato
Preceded byMario Scelba
Prime Minister of Italy 1955–1957
Succeeded byAdone Zoli
Preceded byPaolo Emilio Taviani
Italian Minister of Defense 1958–1959
Succeeded byGiulio Andreotti
Preceded byAmintore Fanfani
Prime Minister of Italy 1959–1960
Succeeded byFernando Tambroni
Preceded byFernando Tambroni
Italian Minister of the Interior 1959–1960
Succeeded byGiuseppe Spataro
Preceded byGiuseppe Pella
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1960–1962
Succeeded byAmintore Fanfani
Preceded byGiovanni Gronchi
President of the Italian Republic 1962–1964
Succeeded byGiuseppe Saragat
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