Francesco Maurizio Cossiga Italian politician Date of Birth: 26.07.1928 Country: Spain

Biography of Francesco Maurizio Cossiga

Francesco Maurizio Cossiga was an Italian politician who served as the 63rd Prime Minister and 8th President of Italy. Born on July 26, 1928, in Sassari, Sardinia, Cossiga was a member of the Christian Democratic Party. He also held a position as a law professor at the University of Sassari.

Cossiga's family roots can be traced back to the island of Corsica. He completed his schooling at the age of 16 and obtained his law degree at the age of 19 and a half, passing half of his courses externally. His marriage to Giuseppa Sigurani was declared invalid by the Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae after 33 years.

A notable connection in Cossiga's life was his kinship with Enrico Berlinguer, leader of the Italian Communist Party. Their mothers were cousins. Cossiga's political career started during World War II, and he held various ministerial positions within the Christian Democratic Party. Of particular mention is his tenure as Minister of Internal Affairs in Viminale, where he was responsible for the restructuring of the Italian police, civil defense, and intelligence services.

During his time as Minister of Internal Affairs, the kidnapping and assassination of popular politician Aldo Moro by the Red Brigades, a left-wing extremist group, took place in 1978. Following the discovery of Moro's body, shot ten times in the chest, in a car trunk in the city center, Cossiga resigned from his position.

On July 12, 1983, Cossiga was elected President of the Italian Senate, a position he held until July 24, 1985 when he became the President of Italy. During the last two years of his presidency, Cossiga frequently expressed his opinions on the Italian political system. He believed that all political parties in Italy, particularly the Christian Democratic and Communist parties, should consider the profound changes in global politics brought about by the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Many politicians deemed Cossiga's statements as exceeding his constitutional authority, but Bettino Craxi, the Secretary of the Italian Socialist Party, supported his position.

Tensions rose when the Communist Party initiated impeachment proceedings against Cossiga due to his involvement in organizing resistance against a possible Soviet invasion during the war. Cossiga threatened to dissolve the parliament in response. He resigned from his position two months before the end of his term on April 28, 1992. In the future, he remained an active commentator on the intricacies of Italian politics.

After stepping down as President, Cossiga was elected a lifetime Senator, a title granted to all former Presidents of Italy since 1992. At the time of his death, he held the honorary position of President Emeritus of the Italian Republic. In May 2006, Cossiga proposed a bill allowing the South Tyrol region to hold a referendum to decide whether to remain part of the Italian Republic, pursue independence, or become part of Austria or Germany.

On November 27, 2006, he resigned from his position as a lifetime Senator. However, his resignation was rejected by the Senate in a vote on January 31, 2007. Francesco Maurizio Cossiga passed away on August 17, 2010.