![Franco Rocchetta in 2013- 2013-09-10 07-40](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Franco_Rocchetta_in_2013-_2013-09-10_07-40.JPG)
Franco Rocchetta (born
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, 12 April 1947) is an Italian politician, entrepreneur, philologist and history populariser, who is usually described as the "father" of present-day
Venetian nationalism
Venetian nationalism (also Venetism, from the Venetian/Italian name, ''venetismo'') is a nationalist, but primarily regionalist, political movement active mostly in Veneto, Italy, as well as in other parts of the former Republic of Venice.
...
and independentism.
Early life and political career
Since his university years, Rocchetta has been a Venetist, a Europeanist, and a passionate of historical, archeological and linguistic studies, and, as such, he was active in
Radical
Radical may refer to:
Politics and ideology Politics
*Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change
*Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...
and
green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
movements. Before coming of age, he was investigated for separatist writings on walls and for his solidarity with
South Tyrol
it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol
, settlement_type = Autonomous province
, image_skyline =
, image_alt ...
ean activists.
During the 1960s he was a member of the
Italian Republican Party
The Italian Republican Party ( it, Partito Repubblicano Italiano, PRI) is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Italy. Founded in 1895, the PRI is the oldest political party still active in Italy.
The PRI has old roots and a long histo ...
and 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). ...
, which he left in order to join ''
Lotta Continua
Lotta Continua (LC; en, Continuous Struggle) was a far-left paramilitary organization in Italy. It was founded in autumn 1969 by a split in the student-worker movement of Turin, which had started militant activity at the universities and factor ...
'' in 1969.
In 1978 Rocchetta founded the "Venetian Philological Society" (of which he was elected president).
Liga Veneta and Lega Nord
In 1980 Rocchetta, who had been a candidate in the list led by
Valdostan Union
The Valdostan Union (french: Union valdôtaine, UV), also Valdostian Union or Valdotanian Union is a regionalist and centrist political party in Aosta Valley, Italy. It represents mainly the Arpitan-speaking minority in the region. Former lead ...
in the
1979 European Parliament election, was instrumental in the foundation of
Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta ( vec, Łiga Vèneta; en, Venetian League; abbr. LV), whose complete name is ( en, Venetian League for Salvini Premier), is a regionalist political party active in Veneto.
The LV, whose ideology combines Venetian nationalism and su ...
, whose goal was to reorganise an independent Venetian Republic within a federal Europe. Rocchetta was thus Liga Veneta's long-time national president and practical leader, having seized party's control over
Achille Tramarin
Achille Tramarin (Padua, 12 August 1946 - Padua, 29 June 2017) was an Italian Venetist politician.
In 1978–1980 he took part to the foundation of Liga Veneta and in 1980 he was elected first national secretary of the party. During the party's ...
in 1984 and having been elected to the
Regional Council of Veneto
The Regional Council of Veneto (''Consiglio Regionale del Veneto'') is the regional parliament of Veneto.
The Council, which has its seat at Palazzo Ferro Fini, located along the Grand Canal in Venice. was first elected in 1970, when ordinary ...
in
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
.
Having been a founding member of
Lega Nord
Lega Nord (; acronym: LN), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing, federalist, populist and conservative political party in Italy. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, the party was rebranded as (), without changing its official n ...
, along with
Umberto Bossi
Umberto Bossi (born 19 September 1941) is an Italian politician and former leader of Lega Nord (Northern League), a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padania. He is married to the Sicilian Manuela Marrone, and has f ...
,
Franco Castellazzi
Franco may refer to:
Name
* Franco (name)
* Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975
* Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître"
Prefix
* Franco, a prefix used when ...
,
Giorgio Conca Giorgio may refer to:
* Castel Giorgio, ''comune'' in Umbria, Italy
* Giorgio (name), an Italian given name and surname
* Giorgio Moroder, or Giorgio, Italian record producer
** ''Giorgio'' (album), an album by Giorgio Moroder
* "Giorgio" (son ...
,
Gipo Farassino
Giuseppe "Gipo" Farassino (11 March 1934 – 11 December 2013) was an Italian singer, songwriter, musician and politician.
Biography
As a songwriter Farassino produced more than 30 albums and virtually 50 singles. Most of his songs were in Pie ...
,
Riccardo Fragassi Riccardo is a male given name, Italian version of Ricardo or Richard. It also may be a surname. It means "Powerful Leader".
It may refer to:
People A–L
*Riccardo Antoniazzi (1853–1912), Italian violin maker
*Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985) ...
,
Marilena Marin
Marilena Marin (born 24 July 1947) is an Italian Venetist politician.
A native of Conegliano, she was a founding member of Liga Veneta in 1978–1980 and, after a party purge in 1984, she was elected national secretary of the party replacing Ach ...
,
Bruno Ravera
Bruno may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname
* Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880)
* Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne, ...
,
Francesco Speroni
Francesco Enrico Speroni (born 4 October 1946, in Busto Arsizio) is an Italian politician.
Career
Speroni has been flight engineer from 1970 to 1997, remaining on leave since 1989. A member of the Northern League, Speroni has been a Member of t ...
and
Carla Uccelli
Carla is the feminized version of Carl, Carlos or Charles, from ''ceorl'' in Old English, which means "free man". Notable people with the name include:
* Carla, French singer and former member of the children's music group Kids United
* Carla Ab ...
, in 1989, Rocchetta led Liga Veneta into Lega Nord, which became a federation from a confederation, in 1991. During the party's founding federal congress, he was elected federal president, a role he would keep until 1994. In the
1992 general election he was first elected to the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
and, after the
1994 general election, he joined
Berlusconi I Cabinet
The first Berlusconi government was the 51st government of the Italian Republic.
It was the first right-wing and non-Christian Democrats government since World War II.
Berlusconi resigned on 22 December 1994.
History
In order to win the March ...
as undersecretary of Foreign Affairs.
In July 1994, after years of juxtaposition with federal secretary Bossi on several institutional, organisational, ethnic, ethic and economic issues, Rocchetta left the party before the end of a congress in which his wife and protégé Marilena Marin was replaced by
Fabrizio Comencini
Fabrizio Comencini (born 6 November 1953, in Garda) is an Italian politician.
Comencini started his political career in the Italian Social Movement (MSI), for which he was elected to the Regional Council of Veneto in 1985 and 1990. In the early ...
as national secretary. After his exit from Lega Nord, he unsuccessfully launched
Liga Nathion Veneta. He later joined the
Federalists and Liberal Democrats
The Federalists and Liberal Democrats ( it, Federalisti e Liberaldemocratici, FLD) was a liberal and federalist political party in Italy, founded in 1994 as a parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies.
The bulk of FLD was renamed Liberal Fe ...
and
National Alliance, prior to leaving politics.
Post-Lega Nord activity
Having left the
Italian Parliament
The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitiona ...
following the
1996 general election, Rocchetta, while continuing to be an active spokesman for Venetian nationalism, focused on
pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...
and
antimilitarism
Antimilitarism (also spelt anti-militarism) is a doctrine that opposes war, relying heavily on a critical theory of imperialism and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International. Whereas pacifism is the doctrine that disputes (espec ...
. In particular, in 1999 he went to
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
for what he described as a "mission of peace", along with some
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
pacifists, notably including
Luca Casarini,
Gianfranco Bettin
Gianfranco Bettin (Venice, 21 June 1955) is an Italian sociologist and long-time leader of the Greens in Veneto.
During his long political career, he was deputy mayor of Venice for Mestre (1995–2005) and member of the Regional Council of Ven ...
and
Vitaliano Della Sala.
With his "Center for International Studies" dedicated to
Paolo Sarpi, Rocchetta organised several initiatives with representatives of
minorities, notably including those with
Ibrahim Rugova
Ibrahim Rugova (; 2 December 1944 – 21 January 2006) was a prominent Kosovo Albanian political leader, scholar, and writer, who served as the President of the partially recognised Republic of Kosova, serving from 1992 to 2000 and as President ...
in favour of a peaceful resolution of the
conflict in Kosovo. In 1999 Rocchetta was instrumental in the awarding to Rugova of the honorary citizenship of
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
by then-mayor
Massimo Cacciari
Massimo Cacciari (; born 5 June 1944) is an Italian philosopher, politician and public intellectual.
Biography
Born in Venice, Cacciari graduated in philosophy from the University of Padua (1967), where he also received his doctorate, writing a ...
.
Between the 1990s and the 2000s Rocchetta was
honorary consul
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
of the
Republic of Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
in Venice.
In 2013 Rocchetta returned to active politics after virtually 20 years of absence from the political scene as a member of
Plebiscite 2013, a cross-party committee which organised the
2014 referendum on Veneto's independence, which saw the participation of 63.2% of eligible voters and the support of 89.1% among them. Later on Rocchetta, along with
Andrea Arman and
Giovanni Dalla-Valle, distanced from the Venetist organisation over disagreements with the "Delegation of Ten".
In the 2014 centre-left primary election for selecting the candidate for
President of Veneto
The president of Veneto is the supreme authority of Veneto, a region of Italy.
Election
Originally appointed by the Regional Council of Veneto, since 1995 ''de facto'' and 2000 ''de jure'', the president is elected by popular vote every five year ...
, Rocchetta voted for
Simonetta Rubinato, who lost to
Alessandra Moretti
Alessandra Moretti (born 24 June 1973 in Vicenza) is an Italian politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019.
Early life and education
Moretti graduated in law at the University of Urbino and has worked as a ...
.
2014 arrest for alleged terrorism
On 2 April 2014, ten days after the 2014 Venetian independence referendum was held, Rocchetta was arrested, along with a group of Venetian separatists (including leading members of the
Venetian Most Serene Government and the
European Federalist Free Entrepreneurs), for suspected crimes including criminal association for terrorism and subversion of the democratic order.
On 18 April Rocchetta, who had declared his innocence and pacifism since the beginning, was released from prison as a tribunal in
Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...
did not uphold the accusations.
See also
*
2014 Venetian independence referendum
The Venetian independence referendum of 2014 was an unofficial, non-binding, online and privately organised poll held among residents of Veneto, one of the 20 regions of Italy, 16–21 March 2014. The vote, known also as the "digital plebiscite" o ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocchetta, Franco
1947 births
Living people
Lega Nord politicians
Venetist politicians
Members of the Regional Council of Veneto
20th-century Italian politicians
21st-century Italian politicians
Venetian independence activists