Giuseppe Saragat

Summary

Giuseppe Saragat (Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈzɛppe ˈsaːraɡat];[a] 19 September 1898 – 11 June 1988)[2] was an Italian politician who served as the president of Italy from 1964 to 1971.

Giuseppe Saragat
Official portrait, 1971
President of Italy
In office
29 December 1964 – 29 December 1971
Prime MinisterAldo Moro
Giovanni Leone
Mariano Rumor
Emilio Colombo
Preceded byAntonio Segni
Succeeded byGiovanni Leone
President of the Constituent Assembly
In office
25 June 1946 – 6 February 1947
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byUmberto Terracini
Ministerial offices
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
4 December 1963 – 22 July 1964
Prime MinisterAldo Moro
Preceded byAttilio Piccioni
Succeeded byAldo Moro
Deputy Prime Minister of Italy
In office
10 February 1954 – 19 May 1957
Prime MinisterMario Scelba
Antonio Segni
Preceded byAttilio Piccioni
Succeeded byGiuseppe Pella
In office
1 June 1947 – 27 January 1950
Prime MinisterAlcide De Gasperi
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byAttilio Piccioni
Parliamentary offices
Member of the Senate of the Republic
Life tenure
29 December 1971 – 11 June 1988
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
8 May 1948 – 29 December 1964
ConstituencyTurin–Novara–Vercelli
Member of the Constituent Assembly
In office
25 June 1946 – 31 January 1948
ConstituencyRome
Personal details
Born(1898-09-19)19 September 1898
Turin, Italy
Died11 June 1988(1988-06-11) (aged 89)
Rome, Italy
Political partyPSU (1922–1930)
PSI (1930–1947)
PSDI (1947–1988)
Spouse
Giuseppina Bollani
(m. 1926; died 1961)
[1]
Alma materUniversity of Turin

Early life edit

Saragat was born on 19 September 1898 in Turin, Piedmont, Kingdom of Italy, to Sardinian parents. He was a member of the Unitary Socialist Party (Partito Socialista Unitario; PSU) from 1922. He moved to Vienna in 1926 and to France in 1929.

Political career edit

Following the dissolution of the PSU in 1930, Saragat joined the Italian Socialist Party (Partito Socialista Italiano, PSI). A reformist, he was a democratic socialist who left the PSI in 1947 out of concern over its then-close alliance with the Italian Communist Party. He subsequently founded the Socialist Party of Italian Workers (Partito Socialista dei Lavoratori Italiani, PSLI), which in 1952 became the Italian Democratic Socialist Party (Partito Socialista Democratico Italiano; PSDI). He was to be the paramount leader of the PSDI for the rest of his life.[3]

In 1944, Saragat had been a minister without portfolio and ambassador in Paris from 1945 to 1946, before he was appointed president of the Constituent Assembly of Italy that same year upon the establishment of the Italian Republic. He was minister of foreign affairs in the Moro I Cabinet and Moro II Cabinet, headed by Christian Democracy leader Aldo Moro from 1963 to late 1964, when he was chosen as President of the Italian Republic. His election demonstrated a rare instance of unity among the Italian left and followed rumours of a possible neo-fascist coup, Piano Solo, during Antonio Segni's presidency.[3][4]

Saragat died in Rome, Lazio, on 11 June 1988. An atheist,[1] he is said to have become a Catholic and had a religious funeral.[5]

Electoral history edit

Election House Constituency Party Votes Result
1946 Constituent Assembly Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone PSIUP 29,981  Y Elected
1948 Chamber of Deputies Turin–Novara–Vercelli US 31,988  Y Elected
1953 Chamber of Deputies Turin–Novara–Vercelli PSDI 16,833  Y Elected
1958 Chamber of Deputies Turin–Novara–Vercelli PSDI 12,484  Y Elected
1963 Chamber of Deputies Turin–Novara–Vercelli PSDI 24,539  Y Elected

Presidential elections edit

1964 presidential election (21st ballot)
Candidate Supported by Votes %
Giuseppe Saragat PSDI, DC, PSI, PCI, PRI 646 67.1
Gaetano Martino PLI 56 5.8
Augusto De Marsanich MSI, PDIUM 40 4.1
Others / Invalid votes 185 19.2
Total 927 100.0

Notes edit

  1. ^ Prescribed pronunciation is [ˈsaːraɡat] but etimologically it would have been [saraˈɡat] from Sardinian surname (of Catalan descent) Saragattu-Mulinas.

References edit

  1. ^ a b Vespa, Bruno (7 October 2010). L'amore e il potere: da Rachele a Veronica, un secolo di storia italiana (in Italian). Milan: Mondadori. ISBN 978-88-520-1203-7. Retrieved 14 August 2018 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Rizzo, Tito Lucrezio (23 October 2012). Parla il Capo dello Stato: sessanta anni di vita repubblicana attraverso il Quirinale 1946-2006 (in Italian). Rome: Gangemi. ISBN 978-88-492-7460-8. Retrieved 14 August 2018 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b "Saragat, Giuseppe". Dizionario di Storia (in Italian). Treccani. 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  4. ^ Hevesi, Dennis (12 June 1988). "Giuseppe Saragat Is Dead at 89; President of Italy From '64 to '71". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  5. ^ Rizzi, Filippo (13 April 2010). "Padre Rotondi e la «conversione» di Saragat". Avvenire (in Italian). Retrieved 23 April 2023.

External links edit

Political offices
Preceded by
Carlo Sforza
as President of the National Consult
President of the Constituent Assembly
1946–1947
Succeeded by
Position established Deputy Prime Minister of Italy
1947–1950
Succeeded by
Preceded by Deputy Prime Minister of Italy
1954–1957
Succeeded by
Minister of Foreign Affairs
1963–1964
Succeeded by
Preceded by President of Italy
1964–1971
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Position established Secretary of the Italian Democratic Socialist Party
1947–1948
Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of the Italian Democratic Socialist Party
1949–1952
Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of the Italian Democratic Socialist Party
1952–1954
Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of the Italian Democratic Socialist Party
1957–1964
Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of the Italian Democratic Socialist Party
1976
Succeeded by