Giovanni Gronchi

President from	May 11, 1955 – May 11, 1962
Preceded by	Luigi Einaudi
Succeeded by	Antonio Segni
Born	September 10, 1887 Pontedera, Italy
Died	October 17, 1978 Rome, Italy
Political party	Cristian Democracy
Spouse	Carla Bissatini

Giovanni Gronchi (September 10, 1887–October 17, 1978) was an Italian politician who became the second President of the Italian Republic in 1955, after Luigi Einaudi. His presidency lasted until 1962 and was marked by a controversial and failed attempt to bring about an “opening to the left” in Italian politics. Image File history File links Giovanni_Gronchi. ... May 11 is the 131st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (132nd in leap years). ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 11 is the 131st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (132nd in leap years). ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... Luigi Einaudi (1874 - 1961) was an Italian political figure. ... Antonio Segni (February 2, 1891, Sassari - December 1, 1972) was twice Prime Minister of Italy (1955-1957, and again 1959-1960). ... September 10 is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years). ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar). ... Italian small city in Pisas district. ... October 17 is the 290th (in leap years the 291st) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ... SITO ISTITUZIONALE DELLA DEMOCRAZIA CRISTIANA Christian Democracy, (Democrazia Cristiana), the Christian democratic party of Italy, commonly called the democristiani or DC, dominated government for nearly half a century until its demise amid a welter of corruption allegations in 1992-94. ... September 10 is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years). ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar). ... October 17 is the 290th (in leap years the 291st) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... A politician is an individual involved in politics to the extent of holding or running for public office. ... Flag of the President of the Italian Republic This is the list of Presidents of the Italian Republic with the title Presidente della Repubblica since 1948. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Luigi Einaudi (1874 - 1961) was an Italian political figure. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ...

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 of 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). Italian small city in Pisas district. ... A poppy field in Tuscany Tuscany (Italian Toscana) is a region in central Italy, bordering on Latium to the south, Umbria and Marche to the east, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria to the north, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Pisa is a city in Tuscany, central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Parma is a medieval city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, with splendid architecture and a fine countryside around it. ... Massa is a town in Italy. ... Bergamo: Citta Alta View of Bergamo Bergamo is a town in Lombardy, Italy, about 40km northeast of Milan. ... The Lambro River runs through Monza. ...

He volunteered into the First World War and after its end in 1919 was among the founding members of the Catholic Italian Popular Party (PPI). He was elected MP for Pisa in both the parliamentary elections of 1919 and 1921. A trade-union leader in the Italian Confederation of Christian Workers, in 1922–1923 he served in the first Mussolini government as Under-secretary for Industry and Commerce. In April 1923, however, a national meeting of the Popular Party held in Turin decided to withdraw all PPI representatives from the government. He then went back to his role as leader of the Catholic trade unions, and tried to face the daily violence brought against them by the fascist squads. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Peoples Party, Popular Party, or Populist Party, is any of several political parties claiming to speak for the people; see Populism. ... In chemistry, pyrophosphate, or PPi is an anion observed in living systems, usually formed by the hydrolysis of ATP into AMP. The hydrolysis is called pyrophosphorolysis. ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Benito Mussolini created a fascist state through the use of propaganda, total control of the media and disassembly of the working democratic government. ... Turin (Italian: ; Piedmontese: Türín) is a major industrial city in north-western Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the west bank of the Po River. ... A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers... Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ...

In 1924, after Luigi Sturzo had resigned as Secretary of the PPI, he became leader of the party, together with two other “triumviri” (Spataro and Rodinò). Re-elected to Parliament in the same year, he joined the anti-fascist opposition of the so-called Aventine movement (from the hill of Rome where the opposition withdrew from Parliament). In 1926 he was expelled from Parliament by the new regime. 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Don Luigi Sturzo (Caltagirone, Italy, 26. ... Anti-Fascism is a belief and practice of opposing all forms of Fascism. ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In the years between 1925 and 1943 he thus interrupted his political career. In order to avoid to have to become a member of the Fascist Party, he also resigned his position as schoolteacher, and earned his living with a successful business career, first as a salesman and then as an industrialist. 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ... Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, refers to the right-wing authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ...

After the Second World War

In 1943-1944 he was a co-founder of the new Christian-Democratic party (DC), and became a leader of its left-wing faction, together with men like Giorgio La Pira, Giuseppe Dossetti and Enrico Mattei (the future boss of ENI, the Italian government-owned petrochemical giant). He was also a member of the Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale, the multi-party committee of the Italian Resistance, as a representative of his party. 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... Christian Democracy, (Democrazia Cristiana), the christian democratic party of Italy, commonly called the democristiani or DC, dominated government for nearly half a century until its demise amid a welter of corruption allegations in 1992-94. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... Giuseppe Dossetti (Genoa, February 13, 1913 - December 15, 1996) was an Italian jurist, a politician and starting from 1958 a Catholic priest. ... Enrico Mattei (Acqualagna, Pesaro, Italy, 1906 - Bascapé, October 27, 1962) was an Italian public officer and the head of Agip Petroli, the Italian oil company. ... Ente nazionale idrocarburi http://fr. ... The Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale (CLN) was the underground political entity of Italian Partisans during the German occupation of Italy in the last years of the Second World War. ...

Although often in conflict with his party’s majority and its Secretary Alcide De Gasperi, he served as Industry minister in 1944–1946 and as a member of the 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). Alcide De Gasperi Alcide De Gasperi (3 April 1881 - 19 August 1954) was an Italian statesman and politician. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... A constituent assembly is a body elected with the purpose of drafting, and in some cases, adopting a constitution. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... United States President John F. Kennedy and Soviet General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev meet in a 1961 summit held in Vienna, Austria at the height of the Cold War. ... Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

President of the Republic

In 1955 Luigi Einaudi’s term as first President of the Italian Republic came to an end, and Parliament had to chose his successor. The new Secretary of the DC, Amintore Fanfani, was promoting for the job the liberal Cesare Merzagora, who was then President of the Senate. However the extreme right-wing of the party – led by Giuseppe Pella, Guido Gonella, Salvatore Scoca and Giulio Andreotti – joined hands with the trade-unionist left – led by Giovanni Pastore, Giorgio Bo and Achille Marazza – in an “uprising” against the party leadership, in order to get Giovanni Gronchi (“Parliament’s man”) elected instead. The move had the support of the Communist and Socialist parties, and also of the monarchic and neo-fascist right. After a bitter battle and the final crumbling of the centrist front, on April 29 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. Amintore Fanfani (6 February 1908 - 20 November 1999) was an Italian politician and Prime Minister. ... Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of... Cesare Merzagora (Milan, November 9, 1898 - Rome, May 1, 1991) was an Italian politician. ... A senate is a deliberative body, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ... Giuseppe Pella (April 18, 1902-1981) was an Italian Christian Democratic politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1953 to 1954. ... Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti (born in Rome, 14 January 1919) is an Italian political figure, among the most powerful in post-war Italy. ... For related meanings see also Monarch (disambiguation) A monarchy, (from the Greek monos archein, meaning one ruler) is a form of government that has a monarch as Head of State. ... The terms Neo-Nazism and Neo-Fascism refer to any social or political movement to revive Nazism or Fascism, respectively, and postdates the Second World War. ... In politics, centrism usually refers to the political ideal of promoting moderate policies which land in the middle ground between different political extremes. ... April 29 is the 119th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (120th in leap years). ...

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 (still Stalinist) Communist Party would be brought back into the national government, and Italy would abandon NATO, becoming a non-aligned country. There was however stiff parliamentary opposition to this project, particularly by the small Liberal Party, which was deemed a necessary ingredient of any viable majority. Stalinism is a brand of political theory, and the political and economic system implemented by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... The Non-Aligned Movement, or NAM is an international organization of over 100 states which consider themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. ... The Italian Liberal Party (Italian: Partito Liberale Italiano, PLI) is an Italian free market liberal party. ...

In an attempt to escape the deadlock, in 1959 Gronchi appointed as Prime Minister a trusted member of his own Catholic left-wing faction, Fernando Tambroni, sending him to Parliament with a “President’s government” but no pre-arranged majority. However Tambroni found himself surviving in Parliament only thanks to 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. 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sir Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ... Fernando Tambroni [Fernando Tambroni Armaroli] (Ascoli Piceno 1901 – Roma 1963) was an Italian politician of the Christian Democratic Party. ... The terms Neo-Nazism and Neo-Fascism refer to any social or political movement to revive Nazism or Fascism, respectively, and postdates the Second World War. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... Location within Italy Christopher Columbus monument in Piazza Aquaverde Genoa (Italian Genova, Genoese Zena, French Gênes, German Genua, Spanish Génova, Galician Xénova) is a city and a seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. ... Licata (called Phintias in ancient times) is a city located in southern Sicily, Italy, with a population over 40000. ... Reggio Emilia is a town of North Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. ...

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 October 17, 1978 at the ripe age of 91. Antonio Segni (February 2, 1891, Sassari - December 1, 1972) was twice Prime Minister of Italy (1955-1957, and again 1959-1960). ... A senate is a deliberative body, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature. ...

Assessment

For an overall historical assessment of his presidency it must certainly kept in mind the Tambroni failure, with its suggestion of an authoritarian approach. Yet an “opening to the left” of sorts did in fact happen soon after his mandate was over. Indeed, the first center-left coalition was formed by Aldo Moro as soon as 1964, when the Socialists (but not the Communists) entered the government. In the 1970s, the Christian Democrats and Communists made efforts toward what was called the Historic Compromise. On this basis he might be credited with some important foresight and a lasting influence. The term center-left has two distinct meanings in politics: Center-left can be used to describe a moderately left-wing political party. ... Aldo Moro. ... For the Nintendo 64 emulator, see 1964 (Emulator). ... The term Historic Compromise (Italian:compromesso storico) most commonly refers to the accommodation between the Italian Christian Democrats (DC) and the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in the 1970s, after the latter embraced eurocommunism. ...

Still, it is hard to maintain that his political project had really very much to do with the center-left governments that followed each other between 1964 and 1992. During most of this period the Communists were isolated even more tightly than before, due to the loss of their former Socialist allies and the bitter conflict that followed with them, particularly after Bettino Craxi became the Socialist leader. Outside influences were later revealed to be at work as well. A 2000 Parliament Commission report concluded that the strategy and operations by the clandestine, US-supported, "stay-behind" 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". In any case, Italy kept its socio-economic structure as a market economy and its foreign policy alignment. 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Bettino Craxi Bettino Craxi (born Benedetto Craxi in Milan, Italy on February 24, 1934, died in Hammamet on January 19, 2000) was an Italian politician. ... Operation Gladio Operation Gladio was a clandestine stay-behind operation sponsored by the CIA and NATO to counter communist influence in Italy, as well as in other European countries. ... A market economy is an economic system in which goods and services are traded, with the price at which goods and services are exchanged being determined by trades that occur as a result of sellers asking prices matching buyers bid prices. ...

References

External links

• Quirinale (Italian)
• Biografie (Italian)

Books

• 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).
• 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).
• S. Bertelli (ed.) Scritti e discorsi su Giovanni Gronchi a vent'anni dalla morte (1998), Giardini, 2000 (in Italian; mostly eulogies by old friends).

Presidents of Italy
Republic of Italy	Alcide de Gasperi (interim) | Enrico De Nicola | Luigi Einaudi | Giovanni Gronchi | Antonio Segni |Cesare Merzagora (interim) | Giuseppe Saragat | Giovanni Leone | Amintore Fanfani (interim) | Alessandro Pertini | Francesco Cossiga | Giovanni Spadolini (interim) | Oscar Luigi Scalfaro | Nicola Mancino (interim) | Carlo Azeglio Ciampi