Giorgio Napolitano, former Italian president, 1st ex-Communist in that post, has died, at 98

Jump to content Sign up to our newsletters Subscribe News Sports Voices Culture Lifestyle Travel Premium News Via AP news wire Friday 22 September 2023 19:41 Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. AP2009 Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. AP2011 Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. AP2010 Giorgio Napolitano, the first former Communist to rise to Italy’s presidency, died on Friday, the Quirinal presidential palace said. Napolitano, who was also the first person to be elected twice to the mostly ceremonial presidency, was 98. A statement issued Friday night by the presidential palace confirmed Italian news reports of the death of Napolitano, who had been ailing in a Rome hospital for weeks. The current president, Sergio Mattarella , in a message hailed his predecessor as head of state, saying that Napolitano’s life ‘mirrored a large part of the history’ of Italy in the second half of the 20th century. As a prominent member of what had long been the largest Communist party in the West, Napolitano had advocated positions that often veered from party orthodoxy. He sought dialogue with Italian and European socialists to end his party’s isolation, and he was an early backer of European integration. AP Italian Rome Sergio Mattarella Communist Party Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in