Carlo Azeglio Ciampi

Infobox President
honorific-prefix = Senatore
name = Carlo Azeglio Ciampi


imagesize = 180px
order = President of the Italian Republic
primeminister = Massimo D'Alema
Giuliano Amato
Silvio Berlusconi
term_start = May 18, 1999
term_end = May 15, 2006
predecessor = "Nicola Mancino" "acting"
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
successor = Giorgio Napolitano
order2 = 72nd
Prime Minister of Italy
term_start2 = 28 April 1993
term_end2 = 10 May 1994
predecessor2 = Giuliano Amato
successor2 = Silvio Berlusconi
president2 = Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
order3 = Italian Minister of Tourism
primeminister3 = "himself"
term_start3 = April 28, 1993
term_end3 = May 10, 1994
successor3 = Domenico Fisichella
predecessor3 = Margherita Boniver
order4 = Italian Minister of the Interior
primeminister4 = "himself"
term_start4 = April 19, 1994
term_end4 = May 10, 1994
successor4 = Roberto Maroni
predecessor4 = Nicola Mancino
order5 = Italian Minister of Exchequer, Budget and Economy Programming
primeminister5 = Romano Prodi
Massimo D'Alema
term_start5 = July 17, 1996
term_end5 = May 13, 1999
successor5 = Giuliano Amato
predecessor5 = Lamberto Dini
"as Minister of exchequer"
Mario Arcelli
"as Minister of budget and economy programming"
order6 = Governor of Banca d'Italia
term_start6 = 1979
term_end6 = 1993
predecessor6 = Paolo Baffi
successor6 = Antonio Fazio
order7 = Senator for Life
term_start7 = May 18, 2006
term_end7 =
birth_date = birth date and age|1920|12|9
birth_place = Livorno, Italy
nationality = Italian
profession = Economist
Politician
religion = Roman Catholic
alma_mater = Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
University of Pisa
residence = Rome, Italy
children =
spouse = Franca Pilla
party = Democratic Party

audio|ciampi.ogg|Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (born 9 December 1920 [http://www.senato.it/leg/15/BGT/Schede/Attsen/00000594.htm Page at Senate website] it icon.] ) is an Italian politician and banker. He was Prime Minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and was President from 1999 to 2006. He is currently a Senator for life in the Italian Senate.

Biography

Education

Ciampi was born in Livorno (Province of Livorno).

After receiving a degree in literature in 1941 from the Scuola Normale of Pisa, one of the country's most prestigious universities, he was called to military duty in Albania as a lieutenant. On September 8, 1943, the date of the armistice with the Allies, he refused to remain in the Fascist Italian Social Republic, and took refuge in Abruzzo, in Scanno. He subsequently managed to pass the lines and reach Bari, where he joined the Partito d'Azione (and thus the Italian resistance movement).

In 1946 he married Franca Pila. That same year, he obtained a degree in law from the University of Pisa and began working at the Banca d'Italia. He also inscribed to CGIL, a member of which he remained until 1980.

Oxford University awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree in March 2005.

Career in the Banca d'Italia

In 1960, he was called to work in the central administration of the Banca d'Italia, where he became Secretary General in 1973, Vice Director General in 1976, and Director General in 1978. In October 1979, he was nominated Governor of the Banca d'Italia and President of the Ufficio Italiano Cambi, positions he filled until 1993.

Prime Minister

From April 1993 to May 1994, he was the Italian Prime Minister overseeing a technical government. Later, as Treasury Minister from 1996 to May 1999 in the governments of Romano Prodi and Massimo D'Alema, he was credited with adopting the euro currency. He personally chose the Italian design for the 1-euro coin, whereas all others were left to a television vote among some candidates the ministry had prepared. (See also: Italian euro coins)

Ciampi chose the Vitruvian man of Leonardo da Vinci, on the symbolic grounds that it represented man as a measure of all things, and in particular of the coin: in this perspective, money was at the service of man, instead of its opposite. The design also fitted very well on the bimetallic material of the coin.

President of Italy

Ciampi was elected with a broad majority, and was the second president ever to be elected at the first ballot (when there is a requirement of a two-thirds majority) in a joint session of the Chamber of Deputies, the Italian Senate and representatives of the Regions.

He usually refrained from intervening directly into the political debate while serving as President. However, he often addressed general issues, without mentioning their connection to the current political debate, in order to state his opinion without being too intrusive. His interventions have frequently stressed the need for all parties to respect the constitution and observe the proprieties of political debate. He was generally held in high regard by all political forces represented in the parliament. The possibility of persuading Ciampi to stand for a second term as President - the so-called "Ciampi-bis" - was widely discussed, despite his advancing age, but it was officially dismissed by Ciampi himself on 3 May 2006, just a few days before his mandate expired. Ciampi resigned as President before the swearing-in ceremony of his successor, Giorgio Napolitano.

As President, Ciampi was not considered to be close to the positions of the Vatican and the Catholic church, in a sort of alternance after the devout Oscar Luigi Scalfaro. He has often praised patriotism, not a common feeling in Italy because of its abuse by the Fascist regime; Ciampi, however, seems to want to stress self-confidence rather than nationalism.

On May 5, 2005, he received the Charlemagne Award of the city of Aachen. On June 15, 2005, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the École Normale Supérieure of Paris.

On May 1 2008, he attended Charlemagne Award of the city of Aachen.

References

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