Giovanni Gronchi

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Giovanni Gronchi
Ex officio
Life tenure
11 May 1962 – 17 October 1978
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
8 May 1948 – 11 May 1955
ConstituencyPisa
In office
1 December 1919 – 21 January 1929
ConstituencyPisa
Member of the Constituent Assembly
In office
25 June 1946 – 31 January 1948
ConstituencyPisa
Personal details
Born(1887-09-10)10 September 1887
Pontedera, Tuscany, Kingdom of Italy
Died17 October 1978(1978-10-17) (aged 91)
Rome, Lazio, Italy
Political partyItalian People's Party
(1919–1926)
Christian Democracy
(1943–1978)
Spouse(s)
Carla Bissatini
​
​
(m. 1941⁠–⁠1978)​
; his death
Alma materScuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
ProfessionTeacher
Signature

Giovanni Gronchi,

OMCA (Italian pronunciation: [dʒoˈvanni ˈɡroŋki]; 10 September 1887 – 17 October 1978)[1] was an Italian politician from Christian Democracy who served as the president of Italy
from 1955 to 1962 and was marked by a controversial and failed attempt to bring about an "opening to the left" in Italian politics. He was reputed the real holder of the executive power in Italy from 1955 to 1962, behind the various Prime Ministers of this time.

Biography

Early life and political career

He was born at Pontedera, Tuscany, and was an early member of the Christian Movement founded by the Catholic priest don Romolo Murri in 1902. He obtained his first degree in literature and philosophy at the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. Between 1911 and 1915 he then worked as a high-school teacher of classics in several Italian towns (Parma, Massa di Carrara, Bergamo and Monza).

He volunteered for military service in the

fascist
squads.

In 1924, after

anti-fascist opposition of the so-called Aventine Secession
(from the hill in Rome where the opposition withdrew from Parliament). In 1926 he was expelled from Parliament by the new regime.

In the years between 1925 and 1943 he thus interrupted his political career. In order to avoid having to become a member of the

Fascist Party
, he also resigned his position as a schoolteacher, and earned his living as a successful businessman, first as a salesman and then as an industrialist.

After the Second World War

In 1943–1944 he was a co-founder of the new

Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale
, the multi-party committee of the Italian Resistance, as a representative of his party.

Although often in conflict with his party's majority and its Secretary

Constituent Assembly in 1946. In 1947, as the Cold War began, he vehemently opposed his party's decision to expel the Italian Communist and Socialist
parties from the national government. From 1948 to 1955 he was elected President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies (the lower branch of Parliament).

President (1955–1962)

In 1955 Luigi Einaudi's term as first President of the Italian Republic came to an end, and Parliament had to choose his successor. The new Secretary of the DC,

centrist front, on 29 April 1955 Gronchi was elected President of the Republic with 658 votes out of 883. He was the first Catholic politician to become Head of the Italian State.[3]

His period in office lasted until 1962. It was marked by the ambition to bring about a gradual "opening to the left", whereby the Socialists and the Communist Party would be brought back into the national government, and Italy would abandon

Italian Liberal Party
, which was deemed a necessary ingredient of any viable majority.

In an attempt to escape the deadlock, in 1959 Gronchi appointed as

neo-fascist votes. This unforeseen "opening to the right" had serious consequences. In 1960 there were bad riots in several towns of Italy, particularly at Genoa, Licata and Reggio Emilia
, where the police opened fire on demonstrators, killing five people. The Tambroni government thus ended in ignominy; forced to resign, it was followed by an all-DC government, with a traditionally centrist parliamentary majority.

The unhappy Tambroni experiment tarnished Gronchi's reputation for good, and until the end of his period of office he remained a lame-duck President. In 1962 he attempted to get a second mandate, with the powerful help of Enrico Mattei, but the attempt failed and Antonio Segni was elected instead. As he ceased to be Head of State, he became a life senator by right, according to the Italian Constitution. He died in Rome on 17 October 1978 at the age of 91.[4]

Assessment

For an overall historical assessment of his presidency, it must be kept in mind the Tambroni failure, with its suggestion of an authoritarian approach. An "opening to the left" of sorts happened soon after his mandate was over; the first

Gladio was designed to "stop the PCI, and to a certain degree also the PSI [Italian Socialist Party], from achieving executive power in the country".[5][6][7] In any case, Italy kept its socio-economic structure as a market economy
and its foreign policy alignment.

Personal life

In 1941, Gronchi married Carla Bissatini (2 September 1912 – 14 August 1993)[8] and had one son and one daughter.

In the Florestano Vancini's film The Assassination of Matteotti (1973), Gronchi is played by Giorgio Favretto.

Electoral history

Election House Constituency Party Votes Result
1919 Chamber of Deputies Pisa PPI — checkY Elected
1921 Chamber of Deputies Pisa PPI — checkY Elected
1924 Chamber of Deputies Pisa PPI — checkY Elected
1946 Constituent Assembly Pisa–Livorno–Lucca–Massa Carrara DC 47,424 checkY Elected
1948 Chamber of Deputies Pisa–Livorno–Lucca–Massa Carrara DC 68,808 checkY Elected
1953 Chamber of Deputies Pisa–Livorno–Lucca–Massa Carrara DC 62,099 checkY Elected

Presidential elections

1955 presidential election (4th ballot)
Candidate Supported by Votes %
Giovanni Gronchi DC, PSI, PCI, PSDI, PRI, MSI 658 78.1
Luigi Einaudi PLI 70 8.4
Others / Invalid votes 103 13.5
Total 833 100.0

See also

References

  1. ISBN 9788849274608
    . Retrieved 29 January 2018 – via Google Books.
  2. ISBN 978-0-230-01993-5
    .
  3. ^ "Italy: Danger on the Left". Time. 9 May 1955.
  4. ^ "Giovanni Gronchi Dies". 18 October 1978. Retrieved 29 January 2018 – via www.WashingtonPost.com.
  5. ^ "Commissione parlamentare d'inchiesta sul terrorismo in Italia e sulle cause della mancata individuazione dei responsabili delle stragi (1995 Parliamentary Commission of Investigation on Terrorism in Italy and on the Causes of the Failing of the Arrests of the Responsibles of the Bombings)" (PDF) (in Italian). 1995. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 2 May 2006.
  6. ^ "Strage di Piazza Fontana – spunta un agente Usa" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 11 February 1998. Retrieved 2 May 2006. It includes links to juridical sentences and Parliamentary Report by the Italian Commission on Terrorism.
  7. ^ (in English, Italian, French, and German) "Secret Warfare: Operation Gladio and NATO's Stay-Behind Armies". Swiss Federal Institute of Technology / International Relation and Security Network. Archived from the original on 25 April 2006. Retrieved 2 May 2006.
  8. ^ "MORTA A ROMA LA VEDOVA DI GRONCHI - la Repubblica.it". Repubblica.it. 15 August 1993. Retrieved 29 January 2018.

External links

Books

  • (it) Igino Giordani, Alcide De Gasperi il ricostruttore, Rome: Edizioni Cinque Lune, 1955.
  • (it) Giulio Andreotti, De Gasperi e il suo tempo, Milan: Mondadori, 1956.
  • Paul Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary Italy, Penguin Books, 1990 (lengthy account of post-war events in Italy from a rather heavily biased left-wing point of view; Gronchi's election and its peculiar political circumstances are not covered; the Tambroni affair is narrated, but Gronchi's role in it is glossed over).
  • (it) Indro Montanelli and Mario Cervi, L'Italia del Novecento, Rizzoli, 1998 (in Italian; a somewhat journalistic account of twentieth-century Italy, from a liberal point of view).
  • (it) S. Bertelli (ed.) Scritti e discorsi su Giovanni Gronchi a vent'anni dalla morte (1998), Giardini, 2000 (in Italian; mostly eulogies by old friends).
  • (it)
    ISBN 88-220-6253-1
    .
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Trade
1944-1946 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the Chamber of Deputies
1948-1955 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of Italy
1955–1962 		Succeeded by
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