Gaetano Gifuni (25 June 1932 – 18 August 2018) was an Italian civil servant and politician who served as Secretary General of the President from 1992 to 2006 and as Minister for Parliamentary Relations in 1987. He is the father of actor

Fabrizio Gifuni Fabrizio Gifuni (born 16 July 1966) is an Italian stage, film and television actor. He won two Silver Ribbons and a David di Donatello Award. Life and career Born in Rome, the son of the politician Gaetano, Gifuni enrolled at the Silvio D'Amic ...

and uncle of Luigi Tripodi, former head of the Quirinale Estate and Gardens Service.

Biography

He graduated in law in 1955 and was hired by

Confindustria The General Confederation of Italian Industry ( it, Confederazione generale dell'industria italiana), commonly known as Confindustria, is the Italy, Italian employers' federation and national chamber of commerce, founded in 1910. It groups togeth ...

. On 1 January 1959, thanks to the passing of the relative competition, he entered the administration of the Senate of the Republic, of which he was appointed Secretary General on 26 June 1975. In 1987 he served as Minister for Parliamentary Relations in the Fanfani VI Government (from 17 April to 27 July 1987). Returning to the administrative top of the Senate of the Republic after the brief government break, he was appointed Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic by

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012) was the president of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1992, and was close to the centre ...

on 28 May 1992. He was confirmed in this latter office by the subsequent President

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 ...

in 1999. From 1992 to 2008 he was a member of the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

. In 2006, on the eve of the inauguration of the new President of the Republic

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who served as president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics ...

, he gave up to continue running the

Quirinale The Quirinal Palace ( it, Palazzo del Quirinale ) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, one of the three current official residences of the president of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and the Tenuta di Castelporzian ...

machine under the latter's mandate and therefore has been Secretary General emeritus ever since. He died in Rome on 18 August 2018, at the age of 86.

Judicial proceedings

In 2009 Gaetano Gifuni was investigated for forgery. According to the accusation, it would have been his signature that allowed his nephew Luigi Tripodi to have the assignment as service accommodation of an illegal house within the Castelporziano estate. In April 2011 he was indicted for the management of the Castelporziano estate, relating to the squandering of the funds allocated by the Quirinale to the summer estate of the President of the Republic. The accusations were of abuse of office, false material and false ideology and embezzlement. In April 2013 he was sentenced in first instance to one year and 5 months of imprisonment for abuse of office and embezzlement and acquitted of the other charges, however in the degree of appeal he was acquitted of all charges: from embezzlement "because the fact does not constitute a crime", while for the abuse of office the offense - connected to the embezzlement and from which it would therefore have been acquitted in any case - was declared extinct due to a prescription.

Honour

* : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

(1975) * : Honorary Member of the

Xirka Ġieħ ir-Repubblika The Xirka Ġieħ ir-Repubblika is a society of honour that offers membership to those who have demonstrated exceptional merit in the service of Malta or of humanity. Its motto is ''Għall-Ġid tal-Maltin'' ('For the Benefit of the Maltese'). A ...

(1995) * : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

(1996) * : Honorary Grand Commander of the

Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia The Most Esteemed Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia ( ms, Darjah Yang Mulia Setia Mahkota Malaysia) is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country and awarded by the sovereign. The order was instituted on ...

(2003) *: Grand Officer of the

Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay The Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay is a distinction of Uruguay created by Law No. 16300 and awarded by the Presidency of the Republic at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to foreign personalities, by reason of the princip ...

(2003) * : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry ( pt, Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique) is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of ...

(2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gifuni, Gaetano 1932 births 2018 deaths People from Lucera Italian politicians Honorary Grand Commanders of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia