Piersanti Mattarella
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The Honourable Piersanti Mattarella |
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| President of Sicily | |
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In office 20 March 1978 – 6 January 1980 |
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| Preceded by | Angelo Bonfiglio |
| Succeeded by | Mario D'Acquisto |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 24, 1935 Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Italy |
| Died | 6 January 1980 (aged 44) Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Political party | Christian Democracy |
| Relatives |
Bernardo Mattarella (father) Sergio Mattarella (brother) |
| Alma mater | University of Palermo |
| Profession | Politician |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Piersanti Mattarella (May 24, 1935 – January 6, 1980) was an Italian politician. He was assassinated by the Mafia while he held the position of President of the Regional Government of Sicily. He was the brother of Sergio Mattarella, President of Italian Republic since February 2015.
Mattarella was born in Castellammare del Golfo, in the province of Trapani, Sicily. He was the son of Bernardo Mattarella, a member of Christian Democracy (DC), and a leading political boss in Sicily in the 1950s. The power network his father had created benefited his initial political career.
He received a Catholic-oriented education by the Jesuits. In 1960 he became a national leader of the Azione Cattolica, and subsequently became an important regional member of DC. Inspired by the politics of Giorgio La Pira, he adhered to the more progressive approach of national leader Aldo Moro. In 1967 he became deputy to the Regional Parliament of Sicily, a position he held until 1978, when he was elected President of Sicily.
Two years later, on January 6, 1980, he was killed by the Mafia in Palermo. Initially believed to be an act of neo-fascist terrorism, his assassination was spurred by his strong commitment against the relationships of numerous Sicilian politicians (mostly members of DC itself) with the Mafia. While in office, Mattarella had decided to launch a moral renewal of the Sicilian Christian Democracy. He wanted to clean up the government’s public contracts racket that benefited Cosa Nostra, passing a law enforcing the same building standards used in the rest of Italy, thereby making the Mafia's building schemes illegal.
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