Francesco Cossiga

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Francesco Cossiga
Ex officio
Life tenure
28 April 1992 – 17 August 2010
In office
12 July 1983 – 3 July 1985
ConstituencySardinia
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
12 June 1958 – 11 July 1983
ConstituencyCagliari–Sassari
Personal details
Born
Francesco Maurizio Cossiga

(1928-07-26)26 July 1928
Sassari, Kingdom of Italy
Died17 August 2010(2010-08-17) (aged 82)
Rome, Italy
Political partyDC (1945–1992)
UDR (1998–1999)
UpR (1999–2001)
Independent (2001–2010)
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Spouse
Giuseppa Sigurani
​
​
(m. 1960; div. 1998)​
Children2, including Giuseppe
Alma materUniversity of Sassari
OccupationPolitician
Signature

Francesco Maurizio Cossiga

First Italian Republic
.

Cossiga served as minister on several occasions, most notably as

1980 Bologna station massacre. Before his political career, he was also a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sassari
.

Early life

Francesco Cossiga was born in Sassari on 26 July 1928, from a republican and anti-fascist middle-bourgeois family. His parents were Giuseppe Cossiga and Maria "Mariuccia" Zanfarino. He was the second-degree cousin of brothers Enrico and Giovanni Berlinguer (whose parents were Mario Berlinguer and Maria "Mariuccia" Loriga) because their respective maternal grandfathers, Antonio Zanfarino and Giovanni Loriga, were half-brothers on their mother's side.[6] Although his last name is commonly pronounced [kosˈsiːɡa] (with the stress falling on the second syllable), the original pronunciation is [ˈkosiɣa] (with the stress falling on the first syllable), italianized as [ˈkɔssiɡa].[7] His surname in Sardinian and Sassarese means "Corsica", likely pointing to the family's origin.[8]

At the age of sixteen, he graduated, three years in advance, at the classical lyceum Domenico Alberto Azuni. The following year he joined in the Christian Democracy, and three years later, at only 19 years old, he graduated in law and started a university career as professor of constitutional law at the faculty of jurisprudence of the University of Sassari.[9]

During his period at the university he became a member of the Catholic Federation of University Students (FUCI), becoming the association's leader for Sassari.[10]

Beginnings of his political career

After the 1958 general election Cossiga was elected in the Chamber of Deputies for the first time, representing the constituency of Cagliari–Sassari.

In February 1966 he became the youngest Undersecretary of the Ministry of Defence, in the government of Aldo Moro. In this role he had to face the aftermath of Piano Solo, an envisaged plot for an Italian coup d'état requested by then President Antonio Segni, two years before.[11]

From November 1974 to February 1976 Cossiga was Minister of Public Administration in Moro's fourth government.

Minister of the Interior

On 12 February 1976, Cossiga was appointed

strongman and labeled "iron minister",[4] for repressing public protests.[12][13] Moreover, during his tenure his surname was often stylized as "Koiga", using the SS symbol.[14]

1977 protests and riots

Main article: Movement of 1977
Armored vehicle in the university area of Bologna.

In 1977 the city of Bologna was the scene of violent street clashes. In particular, on 11 March a militant of the far-left organization Lotta Continua, Francesco Lorusso, was killed by a gunshot to the back (probably fired by a policeman), when police dispersed protesters against a mass meeting of Communion and Liberation, which was being held that morning at the University. This event served as a detonator for a long series of clashes with security forces for two days, which affected the entire city of Bologna.[15] Cossiga sent armored vehicles into the university area and other hot spots of the city to quell what he perceived as guerrilla warfare. Clashes with the police caused numerous casualties among people who got caught up in the riots, including uninvolved locals. No old leftist party, except the Youth Socialist Federation, led by local secretary Emilio Lonardo, participated at the funeral of the student Lorusso, showing the dramatic split between the movement and the historical left parties.

Turin was also the scene of bloody clashes and attacks. On 1 October 1977, after a procession had started with an attack on the headquarters of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), a group of militants of Lotta Continua reached a downtown bar, L'angelo azzurro (The Blue Angel), frequented by young right-wing activists. They threw two Molotov cocktails, and Roberto Crescenzio, a totally apolitical student, died of burns. The perpetrators of the murder were never identified. Lotta Continua leader Silvio Viale called it a "tragic accident".

Another innocent victim of the riots of that year was Giorgiana Masi, who was killed in Rome by a gunshot during an event organized by the Radical Party to celebrate the third anniversary of the victory in the referendum on divorce. As the perpetrators of the murder remained unknown, the movement attributed the responsibility of the crime to police officers in plain clothes, which were immortalized at that time dressed in clothing of the style of young people of the movement.

Kidnapping of Aldo Moro

Main article:
Kidnapping of Aldo Moro
Cossiga with Aldo Moro.

Cossiga was in office at the time of the

policemen
in the following car) and kidnapped him.

Cossiga formed immediately two "crisis committees". The first one was a technical-operational-political committee, chaired by Cossiga himself and, in his absence, by undersecretary Nicola Lettieri. Other members included the supreme commanders of the Italian Police Forces, of the Carabinieri, the Guardia di Finanza, the recently named directors of SISMI and SISDE (respectively, Italy's military and civil intelligence services), the national secretary of CESIS (a secret information agency), the director of UCIGOS and the police prefect of Rome. The second one was an information committee, including members of CESIS, SISDE, SISMI and SIOS, another military intelligence office.

Francesco Cossiga with Giulio Andreotti in 1978.

A third unofficial committee was created which never met officially, called the comitato di esperti ("committee of experts"). Its existence was not disclosed until 1981, by Cossiga himself, in his interrogation by the Italian Parliament's Commission about the Moro affair. He omitted to reveal the decisions and the activities of the committee however. This committee included: Steve Pieczenik, a psychologist of the anti-terrorism section of the US State Department, and notable Italian criminologists.[16] Pieczenik later declared that there were numerous leaks about the discussions made at the committee, and accused Cossiga.[17]

However, on 9 May 1978 Moro's body was found in the

CGIL and of the Communist Party of knowing where Moro was detained".[19] Cossiga was also accused by Moro himself, in his letters who wrote during his detention, saying that "his blood will fall over him".[20]

Prime Minister of Italy

Francesco Cossiga in 1979.

One year after Moro's death and the subsequent Cossiga's resignation as Interior Minister, he was appointed Prime Minister of Italy. He led a government's coalition composed by Christian Democrats, Socialists, Democratic Socialists, Republicans and Liberals.

Bologna massacre

Main article: Bologna massacre

Cossiga was head of the government during the

Bologna Central Station on the morning of 2 August 1980, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 200. The attack was attributed to the neo-fascist terrorist organization Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari (Armed Revolutionary Nucleus), which always denied any involvement; other theories have been proposed, especially in correlation with the strategy of tension.[21]

Francesco Cossiga first assumed the explosion to have been caused by an accident (the explosion of an old

neofascists were behind the attack, "unlike leftist terrorism, which strikes at the heart of the state through its representatives, black terrorism prefers the massacre because it promotes panic and impulsive reactions."[22][23]

Rescue teams making their way through the rubble after the attack.

Later, according to media reports in 2004, taken up again in 2007,

Giuseppe Valerio Fioravanti, the two neo-fascist terrorists accused of the massacre.[26][27] The PFLP has always denied responsibility.[28]

Resignation

In October 1980, Cossiga resigned as Prime Minister after the rejection of the annual budget bill by the Italian Parliament.[29]

Following the

President of the Senate.[30]

President of Italy

Cossiga with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, in 1987.

In the 1985 presidential election, Cossiga was elected as President of Italy with 752 votes out of 977. His candidacy was endorsed by the Christian Democracy, but supported also by communists, socialists, social democrats, liberals and republicans. This was the first time an Italian presidential candidate had won the election on the first ballot, where a two-thirds majority is necessary. He took office on 29 June 1985 on an interim basis after the resignation of Outgoing President Sandro Pertini, but was not sworn in until a few days later, on 3 July.

The Cossiga presidency was essentially divided into two phases related to the attitudes of the head of state. In the first five years, Cossiga played its role in a traditional way, caring for the role of the republican institutions under the Constitution, which makes the President of the Republic a kind of arbitrator in relations between the powers of the state.

"Pickaxe-wielder" president

It was in his last two years as president that Cossiga began to express some unusual opinions regarding the Italian political system. He opined that the Italian parties, especially the Christian Democrats and the Communists had to take into account the deep changes brought about by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.[31] According to him, DC and PCI would therefore have been seriously affected by this change, but Cossiga believed that political parties and the same institutions refused to recognize it.

President Cossiga in his office at Quirinal Palace.

Thus, a period of conflict and political controversy began, often provocative and deliberately excessive, and with very strong media exposure. These statements, soon dubbed "esternazioni", or "mattock blows" (picconate), were considered by many to be inappropriate for a President,[32] and often beyond his constitutional powers; also, his mental health was doubted and Cossiga had to declare "I am the fake madman who speaks the truth."[31] Cossiga suffered from bipolar disorder and depression in the last years of his life.[33]

Among the statements of the President there were also allegations of excessive politicization of the

judiciary system, and the stigmatization of the fact that young magistrates, who just came into service, were immediately destined for the Sicilian prosecutor to carry out mafia proceedings.[34]

For his changed attitude, Cossiga received various criticisms by almost every party, with the exception of the Italian Social Movement, which stood beside him in defense of the "picconate". He will, amongst other things, be considered one of the first "cleansers" of MSI, who recognized it as a constitutional and democratic force.[35]

Revelation of Gladio and resignation

Francesco Cossiga with Russian President Boris Yeltsin, in 1992.

Tension developed between Cossiga and Prime Minister

high treason against the state or for an attempt to overthrow the Constitution).[38][39]
Although he threatened to prevent the impeachment procedure by dissolving Parliament, the impeachment request was ultimately dismissed.

Cossiga resigned two months before the end of his term, on 25 April 1992.

fatherland, to honor the nation, to serve the Republic, to believe in freedom and to believe in our country".[41]

After the presidency

According to the Italian Constitution, after his resignation from the office of President, Cossiga became Lifetime Senator, joining his predecessors in the upper house of Parliament, with whom he also shared the title of President Emeritus of the Italian Republic.

On 12 January 1997, Cossiga survived unscathed a railway accident (it:Incidente ferroviario di Piacenza), while traveling on a high-speed train from Milan to Rome that derailed near Piacenza.[42]

In February 1998, Cossiga created the Democratic Union for the Republic (UDR), a Christian democratic political party, declaring it to be politically central. The UDR was a crucial component of the majority that supported the Massimo D'Alema cabinet in October 1998, after the fall of the Romano Prodi's government which lost a vote of confidence. Cossiga declared that his support for D'Alema was intended to end the conventional exclusion of the former communist leaders from the premiership in Italy.

In 1999 UDR was dissolved and Cossiga returned to his activities as a Senator, with competences in the Military Affairs' Commission.[43]

In May 2006, Cossiga gave his support to the formation of Prodi's

second government. In the same month, he brought in a bill that would allow the region of South Tyrol to hold a referendum, where the local electorate could decide whether to remain within the Republic of Italy, take independence, or become part of Austria again.[44]

On 27 November 2006, he resigned from his position as a lifetime senator. His resignation was, however, rejected on 31 January 2007 by a vote of the Senate.

In May 2008, Cossiga voted in favor of the government of Silvio Berlusconi.

Death and legacy

Funeral of Cossiga in Sassari, August 2010.

Cossiga died on 17 August 2010 from respiratory problems at the

Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic.[45] After his death, four letters written by Cossiga were sent to the four highest authorities of the state in office at the time of his death, President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Senate Renato Schifani, President of the Chamber of Deputies Gianfranco Fini and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.[46][47]

The funeral took place in his hometown, Sassari, at the Church of San Giuseppe.[48] Cossiga is buried in the public cemetery of Sassari, in the family tomb, not far from one of his predecessors as President of Italy, Antonio Segni.[49]

In 2020, Cossiga was depicted in the film Rose Island, which told the story of the Republic of Rose Island, played by Luca Della Bianca.

Controversies

In 2000 he criticized world champion Michael Schumacher for his conduct when the Italian National Anthem was played on the podium at the Japanese Grand Prix.

In 2007, Cossiga sarcastically referred to the 2001 September 11 attacks as a false flag: "all democratic circles in America and of Europe, especially those of the Italian centre-left, now know that the disastrous attack was planned and realized by the American CIA and Mossad with the help of the Zionist world, to place the blame on Arab countries and to persuade the Western powers to intervene in Iraq and Afghanistan".[50][51] The previous year Cossiga had stated that he rejects theoretical conspiracies and that it "seems unlikely that September 11 was the result of an American plot."[52][53]

In the statement, Cossiga was indeed mocking Italian media claiming that a video tape circulated by

al Qaeda and containing threats against Silvio Berlusconi was "produced in the studios of Mediaset in Milan" and forwarded to the "Islamist Al-Jazeera television network." According to the media, the purpose of that video tape (which was actually an audio tape) was to raise "a wave of solidarity to Berlusconi" who was, at the time, facing political difficulties.[50]

In 2008, Francesco Cossiga said that Mario Draghi was "a craven moneyman".[54]

Cossiga blamed the loss of Itavia Flight 870, a passenger jet that crashed in 1980 with the loss of all 81 people on board, on a missile fired from a French Navy aircraft. On 23 January 2013 Italy's top criminal court ruled that there was "abundantly" clear evidence that the flight was brought down by a missile fired from a French Navy aircraft. [55]

Electoral history

Election House Constituency Party Votes Result
1958 Chamber of Deputies Cagliari–Sassari–Nuoro DC 57,787 checkY Elected
1963 Chamber of Deputies Cagliari–Sassari–Nuoro DC 58,809 checkY Elected
1968 Chamber of Deputies Cagliari–Sassari–Nuoro DC 102,814 checkY Elected
1972 Chamber of Deputies Cagliari–Sassari–Nuoro DC 94,855 checkY Elected
1976 Chamber of Deputies Cagliari–Sassari–Nuoro DC 174,209 checkY Elected
1979 Chamber of Deputies Cagliari–Sassari–Nuoro DC 136,383 checkY Elected
1983 Senate of the Republic Sardinia – Tempio-Ozieri DC 40,024 checkY Elected

Honours and awards

As President of the Republic, Cossiga was Head (and also Knight Grand Cross with Grand Cordon) of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (from 3 July 1985 to 28 April 1992), Military Order of Italy, Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, Order of Merit for Labour and Order of Vittorio Veneto and Grand Cross of Merit of the Italian Red Cross. He has also been given honours and awards by other countries.

Notes

  1. ^ See below.

References

Notes
  1. ^ Page at Senate website (in Italian).
  2. ^ Profile of Francesco Cossiga
  3. ^ Biografia – Francesco Cossiga
  4. ^ a b I consigli di Cossiga alla Polizia "Prima una vittima, poi mano dura"
  5. ^ a b Sassoon, Donald (18 August 2010). "Francesco Cossiga obituary". The Guardian.
  6. ^ (in Italian) Mio cugino Berlinguer: Cossiga racconta un leader (Cossiga talking about Enrico Berlinguer in an interview to Gian Antonio Stella – Corriere della Sera, 10 June 2004) (in Italian)
  7. ^ "Cossiga, Dizionario d'ortografia e pronuncia RAI". Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
  8. ^ Le confessioni di Cossiga: "Io, Gelli e la massoneria"
  9. ^ "Da Presidente notaio a picconatore". Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  10. ^ Chiesa e società a Sassari dal 1931 al 1961
  11. ^ Morte di un picconatore Archived 28 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Cossiga a Manganelli: «Lasciare che gli studenti facciano danni, poi una dura repressione»
  13. ^ Terrorizzare e reprimere. Il terrorismo come strumento repressivo in perenne estensione Archived 25 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Da Kossiga con la K a picconatore: vita del Dc più anomalo
  15. ISBN 978-0-415-14584-8
    , p 800
  16. ISBN 978-88-7394-107-1
    .
  17. ^ Amara, Emmanuel. Abbiamo ucciso Aldo Moro. La vera storia del rapimento Moro. Cooper. p. 159, note 41.
  18. ^ Fasanella, Giovanni; Giuseppe Roca (2003). The Mysterious Intermediary. Igor Markevitch and the Moro affair. Einaudi.
  19. ^ Deaglio, Enrico (18 August 2010). "La lepre marzolina che attraversò la storia senza pagar dazio". L'Unità.
  20. ISBN 88-7953-058-5
    .
  21. ^ Carlo Lucarelli, Blu notte La strage di Bologna (in Italian).
  22. ^ "Police search starts for Bologna bombers". The Globe and Mail. 5 August 1980.
  23. ^ "Neo-Fascists 'Prefer Massacre'". Reuters. 6 August 1980.
  24. ^ "Il giallo della strage di Bologna. Ecco le prove della pista araba" Archived 7 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine, il Giornale, 22 October 2007 (in Italian).
  25. ^ "Strage Bologna: Cossiga, forse atto del terrorismo arabo" Archived 7 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  26. ^ "La strage di Bologna, fu un incidente della resistenza palestinese", Corriere della Sera, 8 July 2008 (in Italian).
  27. Jerusalem Post
    , 6 October 2008.
  28. ^ Former Italian Prime Minister fabricates lies again Archived 8 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
  29. ^ Il Governo Cossiga
  30. ^ Francesco Cossiga – Dizionario biografico Treccani
  31. ^ a b The Washington Post: Veteran Italian politician Cossiga dies[dead link]
  32. ^ Bobbio: "Cossiga resterà sotto le macerie"
  33. ^ "I medici: da Pasqua smise di curarsi". corriere.it. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  34. ^ Storia della Prima Repubblica, parte VI, di Paolo Mieli, 3D produzioni video.
  35. ^ "Cossiga, Storace: "E' stato il primo sdoganatore del Msi"". Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  36. ^ Bloomberg: Francesco Cossiga, Italy's Combative Former President, Dies at Age 82
  37. ^ "Italy: Former president Francesco Cossiga dies at 82 - Adnkronos Politics". adnkronos.com. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  38. ^ (in Italian) Il Sole 24 ore: Occhetto, lo strappo mai ricucito su Gladio
  39. ^ (in Italian) La Repubblica: Il PDS vota l'impeachment di Cossiga (4 December 1991)
  40. ^ (in Italian) La Repubblica: E l'uomo grigio prese il piccone (26 April 1992)
  41. ^ Cossiga, dimissioni del Presidente
  42. ^ "TERRORE E MORTE SUL PENDOLINO". La Repubblica.
  43. ^ (in Italian) Cossiga's activity as a Senator, on the Senate's website
  44. ^ Cossiga, Francesco (8 June 2006). "Riconoscimento del diritto di autodeterminazione al Land Südtyrol – Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano" (PDF). Disegno di Legge Costituzionale N. 592. Senato della Repubblica XV Legislatura. Retrieved 21 February 2009.
  45. ^ Addio al Picconatore, è morto Cossiga
  46. ^ Le lettere ai vertici dello Stato
  47. ^ Il testamento politico in 4 lettere sigillate
  48. ^ "I funerali di Cossiga". Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  49. ^ Cossiga, svolti i funerali. Sepolto vicino ad Antonio Segni
  50. ^ a b "Osama-Berlusconi? "Trappola giornalistica"". Corriere della Sera. 30 November 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  51. ^ Scherer, Steve; Totaro, Lorenzo (17 August 2010). "Francesco Cossiga, Italy's Combative Ex-President, Dies at 82". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 21 August 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  52. ^ "LASTAMPA.it". Archived from the original on 19 September 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  53. ^ Sassoon, Donald (18 August 2010). "Francesco Cossiga obituary". The Guardian. London.
  54. YouTube
  55. ^ "Italian court: Missile caused 1980 Mediterranean plane crash; Italy must pay compensation". The Washington Post. Associated Press. 23 January 2013. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018.
Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Francesco Cossiga.
Political offices
Preceded by
Minister of Public Administration

1974–1976 		Succeeded by
Minister of the Interior

1976–1978 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of Italy
1979–1980 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
President of the Italian Senate

1983–1985 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of Italy
1985–1992 		Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Masayoshi Ohira
 Chairperson of the G7
1980 		Succeeded by
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