Difference between revisions of "Alcide De Gasperi" - New World Encyclopedia
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[[Image:Monumento Alcide Degasperi Trento.JPG|thumb|left|De Gasperi memorial in Trento]] | [[Image:Monumento Alcide Degasperi Trento.JPG|thumb|left|De Gasperi memorial in Trento]] | ||
| − | De Gasperi was born in [[Pieve Tesino]] in Trentino, | + | De Gasperi was born in [[Pieve Tesino]] in Trentino, which as a result of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] had been part of [[Austria-Hungary]] since 1815. It is now now part of the [[Province of Trento]] in [[Italy]]. |
| − | He studied [[philosophy]] and [[literature]] in [ | + | His father was an officer in the Austrian Gendarmerie. De Gasperi attended High School in Trent and University in Vienna, studying |
| + | He studied [[philosophy]] and [[literature]]. He experienced financial hardship as a student and sometimes ate at the free soup-kitchen. At both school and University he was active in Catholic organizations. From 1901 he volunteered for the Federation of Catholic Workers' Societies, disseminating the ideas of ''Rerum Novarum'' <ref> A papal encyclical of 1891 on the conditions of the working classes, ''Rerum Novarum'' supporting the rights of workers to form unions and arguing the moral imperative of reasonable wages and non-exploitative working conditions but rejecting the notion that class conflict is inevitable. The text is available at the Vatican's website, [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/leo_xiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum_en.html Rerum Novarum].</ref> In 1905, De Gasperi defended his thesis on Carlo Gozzi (1720-1806) the Italian dramatist and graduated from Vienna University. He then started to work as a journalist, becoming editor of a newspaper at the age of 24. Called ''La Voce Cattolica di Trento'', he later changed to the paper's name to ''Il Trentino''. Influenced by Romolo Murri, founder of the Christian Democratic movement inspired by ''Rerum Novarum'', he became involved in local politics successfully standing for the Trent City Council in 1909. In 1911 he was elected as [[Member of Parliament]] in the [[Austria]]n [[Reichsrat (Austria)|Reichsrat]]. In Parliament, he argued for Trent's return to Italy. As [[World War I]] began, his paper opposed Austria's participation. During the war he frequently visited [[Rome]] pursuing the cause of Trent's reunification with Italy. | ||
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| + | His home region was transferred to Italy after the First World War. In 1919 he was one of the founders, with Don [[Luigi Sturzo]], of the Italian Popular Party, or ''[[Partito Popolare]]''; starting in 1921 he was an MP for the party. He later became party leader and Secretary-General. | ||
===World War II=== | ===World War II=== | ||
Revision as of 17:36, 8 May 2008
| Alcide De Gasperi | |
| Alcide De Gasperi
| |
44th
President of the Council of Ministers of Italy Temporary head of the Italian State from June 12, 1946 to July 1, 1946 | |
| In office December 10, 1945 – August 2, 1953 | |
| President | Himself Enrico De Nicola Luigi Einaudi |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | Ferruccio Parri |
| Succeeded by | Giuseppe Pella |
Minister of Foreign Affairs
| |
| In office December 12, 1944 – October 10, 1946 | |
| Prime Minister | Ivanoe Bonomi Ferruccio Parri Himself |
| Preceded by | Ivanoe Bonomi |
| Succeeded by | Pietro Nenni |
| In office July 26, 1951 – August 2, 1953 | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Carlo Sforza |
| Succeeded by | Giuseppe Pella |
Minister of the Interior
| |
| In office July 13, 1946 – January 28, 1947 | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Giuseppe Romita |
| Succeeded by | Mario Scelba |
2ndPresident of the European Parliament
| |
| In office 1954 – August 19, 1954 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Henri Spaak |
| Succeeded by | Giuseppe Pella |
| Born | April 3 1881 Trentino, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 19 August 1954 (aged 73) Passo Sella, Italy |
| Political party | Christian Democracy |
| Spouse | Francesca Romani |
| Children | Maria Romana De Gasperi other 3 daughters |
| Alma mater | University of Vienna |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Alcide De Gasperi (3 April 1881 – 19 August 1954) was an Italian statesman and politician. He is considered to be one of the Founding fathers of the European Union, along with the Frenchman Robert Schuman and the German Konrad Adenauer. During World War II he was active Italy's anti-Fascist resistance movement and spent 16 months in prison under Benito Mussolini (1926-1929). Serving in Italy's first post-war Cabinet from June 1944, he became Prime Minister December 10 1945 and remained in office for eight years. He was provisional Head of State from June 12 1946 until July I, when Enrico De Nicola became the first President of Italy. He signed the peace treaty between Italy and the Allies in September 1947, then gave moral leadership to the Italian state as it recovered from the war. He did much to shape the post-war Italian state and is credited with leading efforts at reconstruction. Convinced that close ties between the European states would benefit all economically and help to maintain peace, he oversaw Italy's entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization the European Community of Coal and Steel (which later developed into the European Union) and the Council of Europe. He was the second President of the ECCS's Parliamentary Assembly from May 11 1954 until his death. De Gasperi was guided throughout his life by the social and moral teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, especially by the encyclical Rerum Novarum. He can be credited with helping to shape post-World War II Europe as well as his homeland. His vision of founding a European army to replace national military forces failed, however but his desire to unite the victors and the vanquished of the war in new, peaceful alliances has been achieved. A passionate advocate of freedom and justice, he stressed Christian values but believed that people of good will of whatever faith could work together. His message of unity was fundamentally humanist at root; a "search for peace, solidarity and friendship between peoples." Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag He wanted to be remembered as a "man of faith" rather than as a "man of power." [1]
Biography
De Gasperi was born in Pieve Tesino in Trentino, which as a result of the Napoleonic Wars had been part of Austria-Hungary since 1815. It is now now part of the Province of Trento in Italy.
His father was an officer in the Austrian Gendarmerie. De Gasperi attended High School in Trent and University in Vienna, studying He studied philosophy and literature. He experienced financial hardship as a student and sometimes ate at the free soup-kitchen. At both school and University he was active in Catholic organizations. From 1901 he volunteered for the Federation of Catholic Workers' Societies, disseminating the ideas of Rerum Novarum [2] In 1905, De Gasperi defended his thesis on Carlo Gozzi (1720-1806) the Italian dramatist and graduated from Vienna University. He then started to work as a journalist, becoming editor of a newspaper at the age of 24. Called La Voce Cattolica di Trento, he later changed to the paper's name to Il Trentino. Influenced by Romolo Murri, founder of the Christian Democratic movement inspired by Rerum Novarum, he became involved in local politics successfully standing for the Trent City Council in 1909. In 1911 he was elected as Member of Parliament in the Austrian Reichsrat. In Parliament, he argued for Trent's return to Italy. As World War I began, his paper opposed Austria's participation. During the war he frequently visited Rome pursuing the cause of Trent's reunification with Italy.
His home region was transferred to Italy after the First World War. In 1919 he was one of the founders, with Don Luigi Sturzo, of the Italian Popular Party, or Partito Popolare; starting in 1921 he was an MP for the party. He later became party leader and Secretary-General.
World War II
De Gasperi served a 16-month jail sentence as an anti-fascist. After his release in 1931 he worked in the library of the Vatican; there, in 1943, during the Second World War, he organized the establishment of the first (and at the time, illegal) Christian Democracy party, or Democrazia Cristiana, drawing upon the ideology of the Popular Party. From 1945 to 1953 he was the prime minister of eight successive Christian Democratic governments. His eight-year rule remains a landmark of political longevity for one leader in modern Italian politics.
Italian Prime Minister
In 1946, when Italy became a Republic, he was elected Capo Provvisorio dello Stato (Provisional Head of State) Pro-Tempore and Regnante Reggente. He is the only man to have become President of the Council, Republic and Regent. He was strong supporter of the Marshall Plan despite opposition from the Italian Communist Party
Vision for Europe and the World
Honors
In 1952 he received the Karlspreis (engl.: International Charlemagne Prize of the City of Aachen), an Award by the German city of Aachen to people who contributed to the European idea and European peace. That same year he vetoed a coalition with former fascists and monarchists for the city of Rome elections advocated by some ecclesiastical circles (the so-called operazione Sturzo); Democrazia Cristiana won, but the governmental block lost some 11%.
In 1951 he was awarded the LL.D. by the University of Ottawa.
Death
De Gasperi died in Sella di Valsugana, in Trentino. He is buried in the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, a basilica in Rome.
Legacy
The Alcide De Gasperi Foundation was named in his honor. The Foundation describes him as "father of the democratic reconstruction of Italy, advocate of European unity and of peace in security among nations" and aims to promote "strengthen democracy" and to "spread freedom." In 1953, Alcide De Gasperi founded the Institute of European Studies Alcide De Gasperi in Rome, serving as its first Director.
There is a Rue Alcide de Gasperi in Luxembourg and a Via Alcide De Gasperi in Rome. There is also a 23 storied Alcide De Gasperi Building in Kirchberg, North East of Luxuebourg. There is a memorial in his honor in Trento, Italy. Declared a "Servant of God" by the Roman Catholic Church he is considered as a candidate for beatification. His legacy is especially invoked by those who stress that Christian and humanist values informed the original vision of a unified Europe and beyond that of a unified world. His vision, though, was neither dogmatic nor exclusive but open and inclusive of all people.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Craveri, Piero. 2006. De Gasperi. Bologna, IT: Il Mulino. ISBN 9788815114181.
- Keyserlingk, Robert Wendelin. 1972. Fathers of Europe: patriots of peace. Montreal, CA: Palm Publishers. ISBN 9780919366183.
- Prati, Giulia. 2006. Italian foreign policy, 1947-1951: Alcide De Gasperi and Carlo Sforza between Atlanticism and Europeanism. Göttingen, DE: V&R Unipress. ISBN 9783899713015.
- Samuels, Richard J. 2003. Machiavelli's children: leaders and their legacies in Italy and Japan. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801434921.
- Sassi, Salvatore, and Adolfo Sassi. 2007. Alcide De Gasperi e il periodo asburgico. Saggistica Aracne, 76. Roma, IT: Aracne. ISBN 9788854811386.
- Venneri, G. 2008. Man of faith and political commitment: Alcide De Gasperi in the history of Europe. Journal of Modern Italian Studies. 13:1:89-92.
External links
- Alcide De Gasperi Foundation. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
- photographs of De Gasperi from the private archive of Mrs Maria Romana De Gasperi. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
- biography at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
- publication by the European People's Party containing three speeches by De Gasperi. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
- Article on De Gasperi's idea of Europe. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
- Institute of European Studies, founded by De Gasperi. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Ivanoe Bonomi |
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1944–1946 |
Succeeded by: Pietro Nenni |
| Preceded by: Ferruccio Parri |
Prime Minister of Italy 1945–1953 |
Succeeded by: Giuseppe Pella |
| Preceded by: Giuseppe Romita |
Italian Minister of the Interior 1946–1947 |
Succeeded by: Mario Scelba |
| Preceded by: Carlo Sforza |
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1951–1953 |
Succeeded by: Giuseppe Pella |
| Preceded by: Paul Henri Spaak |
President of the European Parliament 1954 |
Succeeded by: Giuseppe Pella |
| Party Political Offices | ||
| Preceded by: none |
Secretary of the Italian Christian Democracy 1944-1946 |
Succeeded by: Attilio Piccioni |
| Preceded by: Guido Gonella |
Secretary of the Italian Christian Democracy 1953-1954 |
Succeeded by: Arnaldo Forlani |
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- ↑ In a letter to his wife cited by Gianni Cardinale. 2004. "Even politicians go to Heaven," 30 Days in the Church and in the Worldhttp://www.30giorni.it/us/articolo_stampa.asp?id=4361 No 9 [Even Politicians Go to Heaven]
- ↑ A papal encyclical of 1891 on the conditions of the working classes, Rerum Novarum supporting the rights of workers to form unions and arguing the moral imperative of reasonable wages and non-exploitative working conditions but rejecting the notion that class conflict is inevitable. The text is available at the Vatican's website, Rerum Novarum.
