Francesco Paolo Fulci (19 March 1931 – 21 January 2022) was an Italian diplomat who served as

Ambassador to the United Nations A permanent representative to the United Nations (sometimes called a "UN ambassador")"History of Ambassadors", United States Mission to the United Nations, March 2011, webpagUSUN-a. is the head of a country's diplomatic mission to the United Nati ...

Education

Fulci graduated with honours in law in 1953 from the

University of Messina The University of Messina ( it, Università degli Studi di Messina; Latin: ''Studiorum Universitas Messanae''), known colloquially as UniME, is a state university located in Messina, Sicily, Italy. Founded in 1548 by Pope Paul III, it was the world ...

and obtained a master's degree in comparative law at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, where he studied as a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

scholar from 1954 to 1955. He later received the diploma from

The Hague Academy of International Law The Hague Academy of International Law (french: Académie de droit international de La Haye) is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Courses are taugh ...

, and attended the

College of Europe The College of Europe (french: Collège d'Europe) is a post-graduate institute of European studies with its main campus in Bruges, Belgium and a second campus in Warsaw, Poland. The College of Europe in Bruges was founded in 1949 by leading ...

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, Belgium, from 1955 to 1956.

Early diplomatic career

Fulci entered the Italian foreign service in 1956. He served as secretary-general of Italy's Executive Committee for Intelligence and Security from 1991 until 1993. From 1985 to 1991, he was Italy's Ambassador to the NATO (

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

) in Brussels. From 1980 to 1985, Ambassador Fulci served as Italy's ambassador to Canada. From 1976 to 1980, he was chief of staff to the Speaker of the

Italian Senate The Senate of the Republic ( it, Senato della Repubblica), or simply the Senate ( it, Senato), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Chamber of Deputies). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral sy ...

Amintore Fanfani Amintore Fanfani (; 6 February 1908 – 20 November 1999) was an Italian politician and statesman, who served as 32nd prime minister of Italy for five separate terms. He was one of the best-known Italian politicians after the Second World War an ...

. During his long diplomatic career, Ambassador Fulci served his country in other important world capitals, including

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

United Nations

Ambassador Fulci was Permanent Representative of Italy to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

(1993–1999). In 1999, he became president of the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...

(ECOSOC), after serving as its vice-president a year earlier. In 1997, he was elected to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. During his tenure as

Italian Ambassador to the United Nations Permanent Representatives of Italy to the United Nations from October 1, 1947 References {{DEFAULTSORT:Italian Ambassador To The United Nations Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Ita ...

(extended by the Italian Government for two more years after his retirement age), Ambassador Fulci served twice as

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 ...

of the

Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...

. At the UN, he co-founded, with the Ambassadors of Egypt, Mexico and Pakistan, the so-called Coffee Club, a powerful lobby of countries formed in the early 1990s to oppose the expansion of the permanent membership of the Security Council, and push for the enlargement of non-permanent seats. In 1998 Ambassador Fulci masterminded the procedural resolution, introduced by the Coffee Club and approved by the General Assembly, which states that any resolution or decision on the reform of the Security Council, at all stages of the reform process, has to be adopted with a majority of two-thirds of the UN member states. The Coffee Club was recently revived by Italy and Pakistan under the name of

Uniting for Consensus Uniting for Consensus (UfC), nicknamed the Coffee Club, is a movement that developed in the 1990s in opposition to the possible expansion of permanent seats in the United Nations Security Council. Under the leadership of Italy, it aims to counter ...

to block a renewed bid by Germany, India, Japan, and Brazil to obtain a permanent seat in the Council. In his capacity as president of the Economic and Social Council, Ambassador Fulci underlined in a "Manifesto on Poverty Eradication" ten priorities: they were later enshrined in the UN Millennium Declaration and in the UN Millennium Development Goals, adopted in September 2000, as well as in the "Monterrey Consensus" of 2002, at the end of the International Conference on Financing for Development.

Later career and death

Fulci joined the Ferrero Confectionery Group in 2000 as vice president and served as president of

Ferrero SpA Ferrero SpA (), more commonly known as Ferrero Group or simply Ferrero, is an Italian multinational company with headquarters in Alba, Italy. manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products, and the second biggest chocolate producer ...

from 2011 to 2019. He was member of the Italy-USA Foundation. He died on 21 January 2022, at the age of 90.

Honors

* 1981, honorary doctorate of law,

University of Windsor , mottoeng = Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge , established = , academic_affiliations = CARL, COU, Universities Canada , former_names = Assumption College (1857-1956)Assumption University of Windsor (1956-1963) , type = Public universit ...

in Ontario * 1996, honorary doctorate of law, St. Thomas Aquinas College in New York * 1998, honorary doctorate of law, St. John's University in New York * Knight of Honour and Devotion of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic 1st Class / Knight Grand Cross – 2 June 1992

Notes

References

* Elio Menzione "La sfida di New York. L'Italia e la riforma del Consiglio di Sicurezza" Rubbettino Ed. 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fulci, Francesco Paolo 1931 births 2022 deaths 20th-century diplomats People from Messina Permanent Representatives of Italy to the United Nations Columbia Law School alumni College of Europe alumni The Hague Academy of International Law people Knights of Malta Permanent Representatives of Italy to NATO Ambassadors of Italy to Canada Businesspeople from Sicily Italian diplomats Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic