Giorgio Napolitano
Giorgio Napolitano 11th President of Italy In office 15 May 2006 – 14 January 2015 Prime Minister Romano Prodi Silvio Berlusconi Mario Monti Enrico Letta Matteo Renzi Preceded by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Succeeded by Sergio Mattarella Minister of the Interior In office 17 May 1996 – 21 October 1998 Prime Minister Romano Prodi Preceded by Giovanni Rinaldo Coronas Succeeded by Rosa Russo Iervolino President of the Chamber of Deputies In office 3 June 1992 – 14 April 1994 Preceded by Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Succeeded by Irene Pivetti Personal details Born (1925-06-29) 29 June 1925 (age 89) Naples, Italy Political party Communist Party (1945–1991) Democratic Party of the Left (1991–1998) Democrats of the Left (1998–2006) Independent (2006–present) Spouse(s) Clio Maria Bittoni Children Giulio Giovanni Alma mater University of Naples Federico II Signature Giorgio Napolitano (Italian: [ˈdʒordʒo napoliˈtaːno]; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who was the 11th President of Italy from 2006 to 2015. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, critics often refer to him as Re Giorgio ("King George"). He is the longest serving President in the history of the modern Italian Republic, existent from 1946. Although the presidency is a nonpartisan office as guarantor of Italy's Constitution, Napolitano was a longtime member of the Italian Communist Party (and of its post-Communist successors, from the Democratic Party of the Left onwards). He was a leading member of a modernizing faction on the right of the party. First elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1953, he took an assiduous interest in parliamentary life, and was President of the Chamber of Deputies from 1992 to 1994. He was Minister of the Interior from 1996 to 1998 under Romano Prodi. Napolitano was appointed a Senator for life in 2005 by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. In May 2006, he was elected by parliament as President of Italy. During his first term of office, he oversaw governments both of the centre-left, led by Prodi, and the centre-right, led by Silvio Berlusconi. In November 2011, Berlusconi resigned as Prime Minister amid financial and economic problems. Napolitano, in keeping with his constitutional role, then asked former EU commissioner Mario Monti to form a cabinet of unelected professionals, which became widely referred to as a "government of the president". When his seven-year presidential term expired in April 2013, Napolitano (then aged 87) reluctantly agreed to stand again, to safeguard the continuity of the country's institutions during the parliamentary deadlock that followed the 2013 general election. On being reelected as President with broad cross-party support in parliament, he overcame the impasse by inviting Enrico Letta to propose a government in the form of a grand coalition. When Letta handed in his resignation on 14 February 2014, Napolitano mandated Matteo Renzi (Letta's factional challenger) to form a new government. After a record eight and a half years as president, Napolitano resigned at age 89 in January 2015.