Franca Pilla (or Franca Ciampi; born 19 December 1920) was the first lady of

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 ...

, when

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician and banker who was the prime minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and the president of Italy from 1999 to 2006. Biography Education Ciampi was born i ...

was

president of Italy The president of Italy, officially denoted as president of the Italian Republic ( it, Presidente della Repubblica Italiana) is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that Italian poli ...

from 1999 to 2006.

Life

Pilla was born in

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

on 19 December 1920. Pilla was in education when she was eighteen and there she met her future husband who was of the same age. They met at a "dancing tea" which was a respectable way to meet. The tea was organised by mothers, and boys and girls would be allowed to practise dancing with each other. After the war when her boyfriend had been a soldier and then a resistance fighter, they had a year's engagement and then they married in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

when she was 25. They spent over seventy years together. During that time her husband was

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 ...

, he led Italy's central bank and he was Minister of Finance. In 1999 he became Italy's President until 2006 when he became a senator for life. Pilla was sometimes less than diplomatic. During a tour of Naples, in the south of Italy, she was quoted as saying that the Italians in the south were better and more intelligent. She was known for her openness, giving the pope advice when they met. She encouraged people to read and to ignore the TV. Pilla celebrated her 100th birthday in December 2020. Pilla and Ciampi were married until his death on 16 September 2016.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilla, Franca 1920 births Living people 20th-century Italian educators 20th-century Italian women 21st-century Italian women Italian centenarians People from Reggio Emilia Women centenarians Spouses of Italian presidents Spouses of prime ministers of Italy