Carlo Ripa di Meana (15 August 1929 – 2 March 2018) was an Italian politician. He was a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

, a European Commissioner with portfolio for the environment and was environment minister of Italy. He was the leader of the Italian Greens and president of the organization

Italia Nostra Italia Nostra (''Our Italy'') is an Italian not for profit organization dedicated to the protection and promotion of the country’s historical, artistic and environmental patrimony. History The organization was formed on 29 October 1955, b ...

Early life

Ripa di Meana was born on 15 August 1929 in

Pietrasanta Pietrasanta is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of northern Tuscany in Italy, in the province of Lucca. Pietrasanta is part of Versilia, on the last foothills of the Apuan Alps, about north of Pisa. The town is located off the coast, where the ...

, Tuscany. His father was Marquis Giulio Ripa di Meana, high official of the grenadiers, while his mother was Fulvia Schanzer, daughter of the senator and minister Carlo Schanzer. He brought noble titles of noblemen of the Marquis of Giaglione, Marquis of Meana, lord of Alteretto and Losa, noble of the lords of the Marquisate of Ceva.

Career

In the period between 1953 and 1956, he directed in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, on behalf of the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...

(PCI), the International Student Union's newspaper, ''World Student News''. In Prague he also met

Bettino Craxi Benedetto "Bettino" Craxi ( , , ; 24 February 1934 – 19 January 2000) was an Italian politician, leader of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) from 1976 to 1993, and the 45th prime minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987. He was the first PSI membe ...

. In 1957 he was made bookseller for Feltrinelli. In the 60s Ripa di Meana joined the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Socialism, socialist and later Social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the l ...

and he came in its Central Committee. In 1970 regional election he was elected in the Regional Council of Lombardy. In 1971 he was among the hundreds of signatories of the open letter published in the weekly ''L'Espresso'' on the case of Giuseppe Pinelli, a railroad worker and anarchist who died while being detained by Italian police in 1969, in which police chief

Luigi Calabresi Luigi Calabresi (14 November 1937 – 17 May 1972) was an Italian Police officer in Milan assassinated by far-left terrorists. This was one of the most important murders during the historical period of social turmoil and political violence in It ...

was pointed out as responsible for his death. In 2007, in a public assembly, he asked "pardon of Mrs. Calabresi and her children", as a consequence of the subsequent murder of Calabresi in 1972. In the

1979 European Parliament election The 1979 European Parliament election was a series of parliamentary elections held across all 9 (at the time) European Community member states. They were the first European elections to be held, allowing citizens to elect 410 MEPs to the Europe ...

he was elected MEP. From 1974 to 1979 Ripa di Meana was also president of the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

. From 1985 to 1992 he served as European Commissioner for the Environment and for the Culture in the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and second Delors Commission, while in 1992 and 1993 he was

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of an ...

in the Amato I Cabinet. From 1993 to 1996 Ripa di Meana was the Spokesperson of the

Federation of the Greens The Federation of the Greens ( it, Federazione dei Verdi, FdV), frequently referred to as Greens (''Verdi''), was a green political party in Italy. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the Federation of Green Lists and the Rainbow Greens. T ...

, in the

1994 European Parliament election The 1994 European Parliamentary election was a European election held across the 12 European Union member states in June 1994. This election saw the merge of the European People's Party and European Democrats, an increase in the overall numbe ...

he was again elected MEP, while in 2000 regional election he was elected in the Umbrian Regional Council. Since 2001 he had been President of the National Landscape Committee.

Personal life

Ripa di Meana was romantically linked to

Gae Aulenti Gaetana "Gae" Aulenti (; 4 December 1927–31 October 2012) was an Italian architect and designer who was active in furniture design, graphic design, stage design, lighting design, exhibition and interior design. She was known for her contrib ...

. In 1982 he married Marina Punturieri, the former wife of Alessandro Lante della Rovere and mother of the actress Lucrezia Lante della Rovere, in a civil ceremony at Campagnano di Roma. Witnesses were Antonio Giolitti, Bettino Craxi, Alberto Moravia and Goffredo Parise. In 2002 they followed with a religious ceremony at Monte Castello di Vibio, in Umbria. In 2010 the couple adopted a son, Andrea Cardella Ripa di Meana.

Death

Ripa di Meana died in Rome on the afternoon of 2 March 2018, two months after his wife Marina died after a long illness on 4 January 2018.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ripa Di Meana, Carlo 1929 births 2018 deaths Italian environmentalists MEPs for Italy 1994–1999 MEPs for Italy 1979–1984 Italian Communist Party politicians Italian Socialist Party politicians Federation of the Greens politicians Italian European Commissioners Environment ministers of Italy European Commissioners 1985–1988 People from Pietrasanta