Franco Evangelisti (10 February 1923 – 11 November 1993) was an Italian politician, a member of

Democrazia Cristiana Christian Democracy ( it, Democrazia Cristiana, DC) was a Christian democratic political party in Italy. The DC was founded on 15 December 1943 in the Italian Social Republic (Nazi-occupied Italy) as the ideal successor of the Italian People's ...

(DC) and a long-standing follower of

Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti ( , ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992) and leader of the Christian Democra ...

Career

A native of

Alatri Alatri ( la, Aletrium) is an Italian town and ''comune'' of the province of Frosinone in the region of Lazio, with c. 30,000 inhabitants. An ancient city of the Hernici,Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hernici". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed. ...

and a journalist by profession, Evangelisti was elected to the

Italian Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies ( it, Camera dei deputati) is the lower house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Senate of the Republic). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical funct ...

for Democrazia Cristiana from 1963 to 1987, and then to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

until 1992. He was appointed as

undersecretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is al ...

for Tourism and Spectacles in the second cabinet led by

Mariano Rumor Mariano Rumor (; 16 June 1915 – 22 January 1990) was an Italian politician and statesman. A member of the Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy (DC), he served as the List of prime ministers of Italy, 39th Prime Minister of Italy fr ...

(1968), keeping the position in the following ones, again under Rumor and then under

Emilio Colombo Emilio Colombo (11 April 1920 – 24 June 2013) was an Italian politician, member of the Christian Democracy, who served as Prime Minister of Italy from August 1970 to February 1972. During his long political career, Colombo held many offices ...

(1970–1972). He was undersecretary for the Presidency under the cabinets led by Giulio Andreotti, with functions as secretary since 1976. From 1979 to 1980 he was Minister for the Merchant Marine: on 4 March 1980 he resigned, after an interview to the newspaper ''

La Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arnoldo ...

'' in which he declared to have received money by the entrepreneur Gaetano Caltagirone. Just before his death, caused by a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

in 1993, Evangelisti described to a journalist the alleged secret meeting between Andreotti and general Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, who was assassinated in 1982. During the meeting, Dalla Chiesa showed Andreotti a memorial of

Aldo Moro Aldo Romeo Luigi Moro (; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and a prominent member of the Christian Democracy (DC). He served as prime minister of Italy from December 1963 to June 1968 and then from November 1974 to July ...

(the president of DC who was kidnapped and killed by communist terrorists in 1979) containing dangerous revelations against Andreotti. Evangelisti, together with Andreotti, was involved in several scandals. During the

Lockheed scandal The Lockheed bribery scandals encompassed a series of bribes and contributions made by officials of U.S. aerospace company Lockheed from the late 1950s to the 1970s in the process of negotiating the sale of aircraft. The scandal caused consid ...

, he was accused of receiving money by the former chairman of

Finmeccanica Leonardo S.p.A., formerly Leonardo-Finmeccanica and originally Finmeccanica, is an Italian Multinational corporation, multinational company specialising in Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace, arms industry, defence and Information security, securi ...

, and his name (together with that of Andreotti) was connected to the assassination of

Michele Sindona Michele Sindona (; 8 May 1920 – 22 March 1986) was an Italian banker and convicted felon. Known in banking circles as "The Shark", Sindona was a member of Propaganda Due (#0501), a secret lodge of Italian Freemasonry, and had clear connectio ...

, a banker condemned for bankrupt and murder, who was linked to

Licio Gelli Licio Gelli (; April 21, 1919 – December 15, 2015) was an Italian financier. A Fascist volunteer in his youth, he is chiefly known for his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal. He was revealed in 1981 as being the Venerable Master of the ...

's secret masonic lodge

Propaganda 2 Propaganda Due (; P2) was a Masonic lodge under the Grand Orient of Italy, founded in 1877. Its Masonic charter was withdrawn in 1976, and it transformed into a criminal, clandestine, anti-communist, anti-Soviet, anti-leftist, pseudo-Masonic, a ...

. Evangelisti was also president of the football team

AS Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

from 1965, and the chairman of Italian Boxing Federation from 1969 to 1973.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evangelisti, Franco 1923 births 1993 deaths People from Alatri Christian Democracy (Italy) politicians Government ministers of Italy Deputies of Legislature IV of Italy Deputies of Legislature V of Italy Deputies of Legislature VI of Italy Deputies of Legislature VII of Italy Deputies of Legislature VIII of Italy Senators of Legislature IX of Italy Senators of Legislature X of Italy Italian male journalists Italian football chairmen and investors A.S. Roma chairmen and investors 20th-century Italian journalists 20th-century Italian male writers