Loris Fortuna (22 January 1924 – 5 December 1985) was an Italian

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 ...

politician.

Biography

Born in Breno,

province of Brescia The Province of Brescia ( it, provincia di Brescia; Brescian: ) is a Province in the Lombardy administrative region of northern Italy. It has a population of some 1,265,964 (as of January 2019) and its capital is the city of Brescia. With an ar ...

, he was a partisan during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and initially joined 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). ...

(PCI), leaving it in 1956, and

crossing the floor In parliamentary systems, politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a different political party than which they were initially elected under (as is the case in Canada and the United Kingdom). ...

to the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...

(PSI), after the anti-Soviet revolts in Hungary were suppressed by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

. His first ran in elections in 1963; two years later, he promoted, as first signer, the law on

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

, but he then decided not to submit it to the examination on Parliament. In 1970, however, Fortuna decided to finally present his proposal of law, together with

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

colleague

Antonio Baslini Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

, gaining support from the PCI, the PSI, the PSDI, the PSIUP, the PRI and the PLI, but opposed by the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

. The Radical Party and the left-leaning Lega Italiana per il Divorzio (LID) supported the law outside Parliament. The law, which legalized and regulated divorce in Italy, was then approved on December 1, 1970. This law is known as "Fortuna–Baslini law".REFERENDUM SUL DIVORZIO - SPECIALE 1974 - 2014
/ref> In 1974, The Christian Democrats tried to repeal it via a national referendum, but failed, with 59.3% of Italians favourable to maintain the law on divorce. During the referendum campaign, Fortuna bound up with Radical leader

Marco Pannella Marco Pannella (born Giacinto Pannella; 2 May 1930 – 19 May 2016) was an Italian politician, journalist and activist. He was well known in his country for his nonviolence and civil rights' campaigns, like the right to divorce, the right to ab ...

, and then joined his party, but continuing to be member of the Socialist Party. The support by the leftist parties, most notably the PCI, was instrumental in preserving the Divorce Law. Subsequently, Fortuna was a strong supporter and promoter also for the law on

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

, which was depenalized in 1978 and survived to another referendum in 1981. He died in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, soon after having asked

Bettino Craxi Benedetto "Bettino" Craxi ( , , ; 24 February 1934 – 19 January 2000) was an Italian politician, leader of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) from 1976 to 1993, and the 45th prime minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987. He was the first PSI membe ...

for an electoral alliance between the PSI and the Radicals. In 2005, the name of Loris Fortuna came back to national political scene, following the formation of the

Rose in the Fist The Rose in the Fist ( it, Rosa nel Pugno, RnP) was a political alliance of parties in Italy. The RnP was composed of the Italian Democratic Socialists (SDI; a social-democratic party led by Enrico Boselli and Roberto Villetti), the Italian ...

, an electoral alliance including Radicals and Socialists, and openly based on the principles of José Luis Zapatero,

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

and Fortuna himself.

References

1924 births 1985 deaths Politicians from the Province of Brescia Italian abortion-rights activists Italian resistance movement members Italian Communist Party politicians Italian Socialist Party politicians 20th-century Italian politicians {{Italy-politician-ItalianCommunistParty-stub