Its former president died today, aged 98 Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano. He was born in Naples on June 29, 1925 and immediately after enrolling in the Faculty of Law of the university of the great city of southern Italy, he became a member of the Italian Communist Party. He had developed anti-fascist activity since 1942.

He was elected for the first time as an MP in 1953 and remained a member of the Italian parliament, with the exception of a single legislative term, until 1996. His line, within the Italian Communist Party, was moderate, open to dialogue with the socialists, the progressive forces of the center , but also with the United States. In 1992 Giorgio Napolitano was elected its president Italian Parliamentwhile in 2005 he was appointed by the then president of the Republic, Carlo Agelio Tsambi, a senator for life.

On May 10, 2006, he was elected president of the Italian Republic and after the end of his term, in 2013, due to the inability of parliament to agree on the choice of a new personality, Napolitano accepted re-election for a limited term. He resigned on January 14, 2015 and was succeeded by Mr Sergio Mattarella.

As president of the Republic, he was called upon to manage critical phases of recent Italian history, most notably the resignation of Silvio Berlusconi as prime minister and his succession by the technocratic economist Mario Modi, in November 2011.