Events from the year 2012 in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Incumbents

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who served as president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Mario Monti Mario Monti, (born 19 March 1943) is an Italian economist and academic who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a technocratic government in the wake of the Italian debt crisis. Monti served as a European Commiss ...

Events

* 13 January -

Costa Concordia disaster On 13 January 2012, the eight-year-old Costa Cruises vessel ''Costa Concordia'' was on the last leg of a cruise around the Mediterranean Sea when she deviated from her planned route at Isola del Giglio, Tuscany, sailed closer to the island, an ...

- a cruise liner capsized, killing at least 32 people on board. * 13 January - Italy's credit rating is downgraded to BBB+ by

Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is con ...

. * 15 February - Several Indian fishermen are killed in a firefight between riflemen of the

Italian Navy "Fatherland and Honour" , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...

and

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

off the coast of the

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The soldiers involved are being held by the authorities in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

. * 18 February -

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

creates 22 new

cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

during his fourth

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistory ...

. * 12 May - 85th National Gathering of the Alpini in

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

. * 19 May -

Brindisi school bombing The 2012 Brindisi school bombing occurred on May 19, 2012, when three gas cylinder bombs hidden in a large rubbish bin exploded in front of the Francesca Morvillo, Morvillo Falcone high school in Brindisi, Italy, killing a 16-year-old female stud ...

* 20 May -

2012 Northern Italy earthquakes In May 2012, two major earthquakes struck Northern Italy, causing 27 deaths and widespread damage. The events are known in Italy as the 2012 Emilia earthquakes, because they mainly affected the Emilia region. The first earthquake, registering ma ...

- The regions of

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

and

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

are hit by an

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

6.0 with the epicenter in the provinces of Modena, Mantua, Ferrara, Rovigo, Bologna and Reggio Emilia. * 29 May - Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy are again affected by three new strong earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 5 (5.8, 5.3, 5.2). * 27 September - Italian newspaper editor Alessandro Sallusti is sentenced to 14 months in prison for publishing libelous remarks, in a landmark case that significantly limits free speech in Italy. * 26 September - Former prime minister

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

is sentenced to 4 years in the first degree (including 3 condoned) in the process of tax fraud on the acquisition of television rights group

Mediaset Mediaset Italia S.p.A., also known as Mediaset, is an Italian-based mass media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company is controlled by the holding company MFE - MediaForEurope. Founded in 1987 by former ...

. * 31 September - The Monti administration endorses the reorganizing of the Provinces, which will start in 2014. The provinces will drop from 86 to 51. Among the most discussed mergers are Livorno with Pisa, Pescara with Chieti and Avellino with Benevento. The Provincial Administration instead will disappear in January 2013. * 21 December - Prime Minister

hands in his resignation to President

Music

* 18 February-

Emma Marrone Emmanuela "Emma" Marrone (; born 25 May 1984), known professionally as Emma, is an Italian pop singer, songwriter, and actress. After working with several bands, she won the Italian talent show ''Amici di Maria De Filippi'' in March 2010, and s ...

, wins the 62nd edition of

Sanremo Sanremo (; lij, Sanrémmo(ro) or , ) or San Remo is a city and comune on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination on the Italian Rivie ...

with the song "

non è l'inferno "Non è l'inferno" (English: ''This isn't hell'') is a song recorded by Italian singer Emma. Written by Francesco Silvestre, Enrico Palmasi and Luca Sala, the recording was produced by Palmasi. It was released on 15 February 2012 by Marrone's reco ...

Television

Literature

Sport

2011–12 Serie A The 2011–12 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM after its headline sponsors) was the 110th season of top-tier Italian football, the 80th in a round-robin tournament, and the second since its organization under a league committee separate from S ...

2011–12 Serie B The 2011–12 Serie B (known as the Serie bwin for sponsorship reasons) was the eightieth season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams will contest the league: 15 of which returning from the 2010–11 season, four of which promo ...

2011–12 Coppa Italia The 2011–12 Coppa Italia, also known as TIM Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 65th edition of the competition. As in the previous year, 78 clubs took part in the tournament. Internazionale were the cup holders. Napoli were the winners, thus q ...

2012 Supercoppa Italiana The 2012 TIM Supercoppa Italiana Final was the 25th edition of the Supercoppa, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Serie A and Coppa Italia competitions. It was the third instance in four years that the match ...

2012 Giro d'Italia The 2012 Giro d'Italia was the 95th edition of Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in the Danish city of Herning, and ended in Milan. The complete route of the 2012 Giro d'Italia was announced in mid October. For the fir ...

2012 Giro di Lombardia The 2012 Giro di Lombardia or 2012 Il Lombardia was the 106th edition of the Giro di Lombardia single-day cycling race, often known as the ''Race of the Falling Leaves''. It was held on 29 September 2012, over a distance of , starting in Bergamo ...

* 1 July -

loses the

UEFA Euro 2012 Final The UEFA Euro 2012 Final was the final match of Euro 2012, the fourteenth edition of the European Football Championship, UEFA's competition for national football teams. The match was played at the Olympic Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine, on 1 July 2012, ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Deaths in 2012 This is a list of deaths of notable people, organised by year. New deaths articles are added to their respective month (e.g., Deaths in ) and then linked here. 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 ...

*January 29 –

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012) was the president of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1992, and was close to the centre ...

, 93, politician and former

*February 19 –

Renato Dulbecco Renato Dulbecco ( , ; February 22, 1914 – February 19, 2012) was an Italian–American virologist who won the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on oncoviruses, which are viruses that can cause cancer when they infect anima ...

, 97, virologist and

Nobel Prize laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

*March 1 **

Lucio Dalla Lucio Dalla (; 4 March 1943 – 1 March 2012) was an Italian singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He also played clarinet and keyboards. Dalla was the composer of " Caruso" (1986), a song dedicated to Italian opera tenor Enrico Caruso, and ...

, 68, singer and songwriter **

Germano Mosconi Germano Mosconi (11 November 1932 – 1 March 2012) was an Italian sportswriter, news presenter and a television personality. Biography Mosconi, who was born in San Bonifacio, was a well-known television personality in northern Italy due t ...

, 79, television presenter *March 21 –

Tonino Guerra Antonio "Tonino" Guerra (16 March 1920 – 21 March 2012) was an Italian poet, writer and screenwriter who collaborated with some of the most prominent film directors in the world. Life and work Guerra was born in Santarcangelo di Romagna. Accor ...

, 92, poet *March 25 –

Antonio Tabucchi Antonio Tabucchi (; 24 September 1943 – 25 March 2012) was an Italian writer and academic who taught Portuguese language and literature at the University of Siena, Italy. Deeply in love with Portugal, he was an expert, critic and translator of ...

, 68, writer *July 3 –

Sergio Pininfarina Sergio Pininfarina, born Sergio Farina, (8 September 1926
. – 3 July 2012) was an Italian automobile ...

, 85, car designer and politician *August 31 –

Carlo Maria Martini Carlo Maria Martini (15 February 1927 – 31 August 2012) was an Italian Jesuit, cardinal of the Catholic Church and a Biblical scholar. He was Archbishop of Milan from 1980 to 2004 and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1983. A towering i ...

, 85, prelate and former archbishop of Milan *December 30 –

Rita Levi-Montalcini Rita Levi-Montalcini (, ; 22 April 1909 – 30 December 2012) was an Italian Nobel laureate, honored for her work in neurobiology. She was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with colleague Stanley Cohen for the ...

, 103, scientist and