Italians mourn death of loved former president Ciampi

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, a widely regarded former Italian president who played a crucial role in Italy’s adoption of the Euro currency, has died at the age of 95 on Friday, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced Friday.


Ciampi, who additionally served briefly as prime minister in a 1993-94 caretaker government of technocrats, was president from 1999-2006.

He was popular to the point that he was widely encouraged to serve a second term – a proposal he declined on the grounds of his advanced age.

Ciampi put in 14 years as governor of the Bank of Italy and later served as a treasury minister,during which Italy started using euro.

He “served Italy with passion,” Renzi wrote on Twitter. Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni hailed “a great Italian statesman,” and other tributes poured in from across the political spectrum.


AFP reports that Ciampi leaves a widow, Franca, to whom he was married for 70 years, and two children. Media reports said he had died after spending several weeks in a Rome hospital.

Italy’s Jews also mourn the death of former President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who had a close relationship to the Italian Jewish community.

In a statement, the president of the umbrella Union of Italian Jewish Communities, Noemi Di Segni, expressed “the deepest condolences, both personally and in the name of all Italian Jews” at Ciampi’s death.

Throughout his life, he was “always close to the Jewish world,” Di Segni wrote, as witnessed by his lifelong friendship with the late Rabbi Elio Toaff, who served as Rome’s chief rabbi for half a century.

Additional Information: New Strait Times