Senator for life Giovanni Leone |
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6th President of Italy | |
In office 29 December 1971 – 15 June 1978 |
|
Prime Minister |
Emilio Colombo Giulio Andreotti Mariano Rumor Aldo Moro Giulio Andreotti |
Preceded by | Giuseppe Saragat |
Succeeded by | Sandro Pertini |
37th Prime Minister of Italy | |
In office 24 June 1968 – 12 December 1968 |
|
President | Giuseppe Saragat |
Preceded by | Aldo Moro |
Succeeded by | Mariano Rumor |
In office 21 June 1963 – 4 December 1963 |
|
President | Antonio Segni |
Preceded by | Amintore Fanfani |
Succeeded by | Aldo Moro |
President of the Chamber of Deputies | |
In office 10 May 1955 – 21 June 1963 |
|
Preceded by | Giovanni Gronchi |
Succeeded by | Brunetto Bucciarelli-Ducci |
Personal details | |
Born |
Naples, Campania, Italy |
3 November 1908
Died | 9 November 2001 Rome, Latium, Italy |
(aged 93)
Nationality | Italian |
Political party | Christian Democracy |
Spouse(s) | Vittoria Micchitto |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Giovanni Leone (Italian pronunciation: [ʤoˈvanni leˈoːne]; 3 November 1908 – 9 November 2001) was an Italian politician. He was the 37th Prime Minister of Italy from 21 June 1963 to 4 December 1963 and again from 24 June 1968 to 12 December 1968. He also served as the sixth President of the Republic from 1971 to 1978.
Leone was born in Naples from Mauro and Maria Gioffredi, both in Pomigliano d'Arco, his father, Mauro Leone was a prominent lawyer of the Naples Bar, and had participated in the founding of the People's Party in Campania.
He graduated in law in 1929 from the prestigious University of Naples Federico II. His father was one of the founders of Democrazia Cristiana in his native city, and he was elected to the Italian Constituent Assembly in 1946. A member of the right wing faction of his party, he was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1948, being confirmed until 1963. In 1955-1963 he was also President of the Chamber, from which he resigned for a brief stint as Premier.
After having been unofficially several times candidate to the Presidency of the Republic, he was named Life Senator in 1967.
In 1968 he was again Premier for some months. As prime minister, a law was passed in November 1968 that introduced a special benefit for full unemployment (trattamento integrativo di disoccupazione) for workers in the industrial sector, in cases of total or partial closing down of enterprises or large-scale dismissals, equalling two-thirds of previous monthly earnings for 180 days. The law also extended earnings replacement benefits to cases of sectoral crises or industrial restructuring with a new compensation formula equaling 80% of previous earnings for 3 months (9 months in exceptional circumstances), allowed for family allowances to be paid to those in receipt of unemployment benefits.
In 1971 he succeeded Giuseppe Saragat as President of Italy, being elected with votes of a right-centre majority of the Parliament (518 out of 996 votes, including those of the post-fascist Italian Social Movement).