Gerardo Chiaromonte

Gerardo Chiaromonte (November 29, 1924 – April 7, 1993) was an Italian communist politician, engineer, journalist, and writer.

Gerardo Chiaromonte
Senator of the Italian Republic
In office
June 5, 1968 – April 14, 1994
ConstituencyCampania
Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies
In office
May 16, 1963 – June 4, 1968
ConstituencyNaples
Personal details
Born(1924-11-29)November 29, 1924
Naples, Italy
DiedApril 7, 1993(1993-04-07) (aged 68)
NationalityItalian
Political partyDemocratic Party of the Left(1991-1993)
Other political
affiliations		Italian Communist Party (1945-1991)

Biography

He was born in Naples on November 29, 1924 into a poor family from Roccanova, a small village in the province of Potenza.[1][2] After obtaining a degree in engineering he moved to Milan in 1943 and became involved in the Italian resistance movement, a partisan force against the German occupation and remaining Italian Fascist forces of the Italian Social Republic (RSI) during World War II.[3]

In 1943 he became a member of the Italian Communist Party (Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI). Chiaromonte’s political ideas were somewhat moderate in the context of the PCI.[4] He belonged to the so-called "meliorist wing" (corrente migliorista) of the party, whose members notably included Giorgio Napolitano, Giorgio Amendola, Nilde Iotti and Emanuele Macaluso. The term migliorista (from migliore, Italian for "better") was coined with a slightly mocking intent. In 1991 he supported the transformation of the PCI in the Democratic Party of the Left (Partito democratico della Sinistra, PDS).

In 1963 he was elected in the Italian Chamber of Deputies and in 1968 for the Italian Senate.[2] He remained a senator until his death in 1993, heading the Communist group in the Senate from 1983-1986.[1] From 1986-1988 he was the director of the party's newspaper l'Unità.[3][5]

In March 1988, Chiaromonte became the president of the Antimafia Commission.[6][7][8] The Commission studied the connections between the four Mafia-type organizations and the links between the Mafia and secret Masonic lodges. It lobbied for the introduction of new legislation such as the reform of the Rognoni-La Torre law whereby asset seizure and confiscation provisions were applicable to other forms of criminal association including drug trafficking, extortion and usury among others.[9] During his time on the Commission he would break with his party's position on Giovanni Falcone, siding with the magistrate.[4][10]

He died at Vico Equense on April 7, 1993.[1]

References
  1. "senato.it - Scheda di attività di Gerardo CHIAROMONTE - XI Legislatura". www.senato.it. Italian Senate. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  2. "Gerardo Chiaromonte / Deputati / Camera dei deputati - Portale storico". storia.camera.it. Italian Parliament. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  3. Cerchia, Giovanni, 1965-. Gerardo Chiaromonte, una biografia politica : dai quartieri spagnoli alla Commissione antimafia (1a edizione ed.). Roma. ISBN 978-88-430-7184-5. OCLC 879868398.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. RANIERI, UMBERTO (May 31, 2020). "Gerardo Chiaromonte, il comunista che difese fino alla fine Giovanni Falcone". www.ilfoglio.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  5. Party Life. Vol 23. University of California: Communist Party of India. March 16, 2007 [1987]. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  6. (in Italian) La Commissione parlamentare antimafia
  7. "Gerardo Chiaromonte / Deputati / Camera dei deputati - Portale storico". storia.camera.it. Italian Parliament. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  8. Giangrande, Antonio (2020). MANETTOPOLI: MANETTARI E FORCAIOLI ALLA RESA DEI CONTI (in Italian). StreetLib. ISBN 9788835884644.
  9. Jamieson, Alison. (2000). The antimafia : Italy's fight against organized crime. New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-22911-9. OCLC 41944663.
  10. Ranieri, Umberto (2020-05-25). "GIOVANNI FALCONE/ Ranieri: il Pd si ricordi delle parole di Gerardo Chiaromonte". IlSussidiario.net (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-10-08.
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