Giuliano Amato (; born 13 May 1938) is an Italian politician who twice served as

Prime Minister of Italy The Prime Minister of Italy, officially the President of the Council of Ministers ( it, link=no, Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is the head of government of the Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is ...

, first from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2000 to 2001. Later, he was Vice President of the

Convention on the Future of Europe The Convention on the Future of the European Union, also known as the European Convention, was a body established by the European Council in December 2001 as a result of the Laeken Declaration. Inspired by the Philadelphia Convention that led to ...

that drafted the European Constitution and headed the

Amato Group The Amato Group, officially the Action Committee for European Democracy (ACED) was a group of high-level European politicians unofficially working on rewriting the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe into what became known as the Treat ...

. He is commonly nicknamed ''dottor Sottile'', which means "

Doctor Subtilis John Duns Scotus ( – 8 November 1308), commonly called Duns Scotus ( ; ; "Duns the Scot"), was a Scottish Catholic priest and Franciscan friar, university professor, philosopher, and theologian. He is one of the four most important ...

", the sobriquet of the Scottish Medieval philosopher John Duns Scotus, a reference to his political subtlety. From 2006 to 2008, he was the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

Romano Prodi Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Pr ...

's government. He has served on the

Constitutional Court of Italy The Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic ( it, Corte costituzionale della Repubblica Italiana) is the highest court of Italy in matters of constitutional law. Sometimes, the name ''Consulta'' is used as a metonym for it, because its sessi ...

from September 2013 to September 2022, to which he was appointed by President

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 also served as President of the Court from 29 January 2022 to 18 September 2022.

Biography

Born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

into a Sicilian family, Amato grew up in

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

. He received a first degree in law from the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

in 1960, while attending the prestigious Collegio Medico-Giuridico of the

Scuola Normale Superiore The Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa (commonly known in Italy as "la Normale") is a public university in Pisa and Florence, Tuscany, Italy, currently attended by about 600 undergraduate and postgraduate (PhD) students. It was founded in 181 ...

, which today is

Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies , latin_name = , image = , motto = L'eccellenza come disciplina , mottoeng = Committed to excellence , established = 1987 from previously existing institutions , type = State-supported , administrative_staff ...

. 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 ...

grantee, he received a master's degree in comparative law from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1963. After teaching at the Universities of Modena,

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part ...

and

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

, he worked as professor of Italian and Comparative Constitutional Law at the

University of Rome La Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

from 1975 to 1997. Amato began his political career in 1958, when he joined 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 189 ...

. He was a Member of Parliament from 1983 to 1993. He was Undersecretary of State to the Prime Minister's office from 1983 to 1987, Deputy Prime Minister from 1987 to 1988, and Minister for the Treasury from 1987 to 1989. From June 1992 to April 1993, Amato served as Prime Minister. During those ten months, a series of corruption scandals rocked Italy and swept away almost an entire class of political leaders. Amato himself was never implicated, notwithstanding how close he was to

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 ...

, a central figure in the corruption system. As Prime Minister, Amato responded effectively to two

devaluation In macroeconomics and modern monetary policy, a devaluation is an official lowering of the value of a country's currency within a fixed exchange-rate system, in which a monetary authority formally sets a lower exchange rate of the national curre ...

s of the

lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israe ...

in the wake of

currency speculation In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable shortly. (It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline in value.) Many ...

that led Italy to be expelled from the European Monetary System by cutting the

budget deficit Within the budgetary process, deficit spending is the amount by which spending exceeds revenue over a particular period of time, also called simply deficit, or budget deficit; the opposite of budget surplus. The term may be applied to the budget ...

drastically, thus taking the first steps in the road that would bring Italy to adopt the Euro. At a point, his government was harshly contested because of a

decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used ...

that suddenly moved the competence for corruption investigations into the hands of the police, which, being controlled directly by the government, would have not been independent. Fearing that the new system would have effectively blocked investigations on political corruption, Italians took to the streets in massive, spontaneous rallies. President

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 centr ...

refused to sign the decree, deeming it blatantly unconstitutional. While his justice minister

Giovanni Conso Giovanni Battista Conso (23 March 1922 – 2 August 2015) was an Italian jurist who served on the Constitutional Court of Italy for nine years beginning in 1982, and has served as President of the Accademia dei Lincei from 1989 until his death ...

took the blame, it has been disputed whether Amato was a victim of circumstances or whether he really wanted to save the corruption-ridden system. At the end of his period as Prime Minister, Amato gave a speech to the Parliament in which he solemnly promised that at end of his term he would retire from politics, stressing that his was a true commitment and that he would not break this promise as some politicians (whom he characterized as " mandarins") used to do. However, this promise was short-lived; Amato has regularly come under criticism for having made such a solemn commitment and failing to keep it. Amato was President of the Italian

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...

authority from November 1994 to December 1997, Minister for Institutional Reforms in

Massimo D'Alema Massimo D'Alema (; born 20 April 1949) is an Italian politician and journalist who was the 53rd prime minister of Italy from 1998 to 2000. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2008. D'Alema also serv ...

's first government from October 1998 to May 1999, and, once again, Treasury Minister in D'Alema's second government from December 1999 to April 2000. Amato was nearly nominated for the Presidency of the Republic and was a close contender to replace

Michel Camdessus Michel Camdessus (born 1 May 1933) is a French economist who served as the seventh managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1987 to 2000, the longest serving in that position. He previously served as the Governor of the Ba ...

as head of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

. Amato served as Prime Minister again from April 2000 to May 2001. He promoted economic competitiveness as well as social protection. In addition to economic reforms, he pushed ahead with political and institutional reforms, trying to deal with a weak executive and fragmented legislature. In December 2001,

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

leaders at the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body that defines the overall political direction and priorities of the European Union. It is composed of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, the President of the ...

Laeken () or () is a residential suburb in the north-western part of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. It belongs to the municipality of the City of Brussels and is mostly identified by the Belgian postal code: 1020. Prior to 1921, it was a sep ...

appointed Amato and former Belgian Prime Minister

Jean-Luc Dehaene Jean Luc Joseph Marie "Jean-Luc" Dehaene (; 7 August 1940 – 15 May 2014) was a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1992 until 1999. During his political career, he was nicknamed "The Plumber" and "The Mineswee ...

to be Vice Presidents of the Convention on the Future of Europe to assist former French President

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...

in the drafting of the new European Constitution. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 2002. Amato was a Member of the Senate representing the constituency of

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the Ombrone river. It is the ...

in Tuscany from 2001 to 2006. In 2006, he was 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 Res ...

for the Olive Tree list, and he was named Minister of the Interior in Romano Prodi's centre-left government. Since 2010, he also leads advanced seminar classes at th
Master in International Public Affairs
of th
LUISS School of Government
On 12 September 2013,

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 ...

appointed Amato as judge on the

, where he has served since then. On 16 September 2020 Amato ran for the position of President of the Constitutional Court, but lost in the second round of voting against Mario Rosario Morelli who obtained nine votes, while

Giancarlo Coraggio Giancarlo Coraggio (born 16 December 1940) is an Italian magistrate. He has been Judge of the Constitutional Court of Italy from 28 January 2013 to 28 January 2022 and President of the Constitutional Court from 18 December 2020 to 28 January 202 ...

obtained five and Amato received one. He was subsequently made Vice President by Morelli. He was confirmed in this position by Coraggio who became president in December 2020. Amato is married to Ms Diana Vincenzi, a professor of Family Law at the University of Rome. They have two children, Elisa and Lorenzo, and five grandchildren, Giulia, Marco, Simone, Elena and Irene. As of September 2020, Amato is a member of the Italian

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

World Justice Project

Giuliano Amato serves as an Honorary Co-chair for the

World Justice Project The World Justice Project (WJP) is an international civil society organization with the stated mission of "working to advance the rule of law around the world". It produces the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, a quantitative assessment ...

. The

works to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen the

Rule of Law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannic ...

for the development of communities of opportunity and equity.

President of Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies

In 2012 Giuliano Amato was appointed as President of the

.Giuliano Amato designato Presidente della Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna at SSSUP
/ref>Giuliano Amato nuovo presidente della Scuola Sant'Anna at Il Tirreno
/ref> As

alumnus Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

(attending the prestigious Collegio Medico-Giuridico of the

Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa The Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa (commonly known in Italy as "la Normale") is a public university in Pisa and Florence, Tuscany, Italy, currently attended by about 600 undergraduate and postgraduate (PhD) students. It was founded in 181 ...

, which today is

), he guarded close contact with the university, previously heading ''Sant'Anna Alumni Association''. He was appointed as President of the

on 21 February 2012 by the Academic Senate of

and by a

Decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used ...

of the Minister

Francesco Profumo Francesco Profumo (born 3 May 1953) is an Italian engineer and academic who was Italy's Minister of Education from 16 November 2011 to 28 April 2013. He has been President of the National Research Council (CNR) since August 2011 and had pre ...

of the

Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (Italy) The Ministry of Education, University and Research (in it, Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca, italic=no or MIUR) is the ministry of the Italian government for the national education system, the Italian universities and ...

. He resigned from his post at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies after being appointed to the Constitutional Court in September 2013.

Personal views

In 2011, Amato declared that Italian creativity is not supported by an adequate efficiency of the organization of its public and private entities. He believes it had a role in the lost hope in the future and in the sense of a common national identity, as well as it had not been yet perfectioned as whole in a way that was congruent with its essence. That loss had favoured the flourishing of

xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

and purported regional identities, such as the

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 offici ...

movement. Amato thinks that the

brigandage in Southern Italy after 1861 Brigandage in Southern Italy had existed in some form since ancient times. However its origins as outlaws targeting random travellers would evolve vastly later on in the form of the political resistance movement. During the time of the Napoleonic c ...

was an unfair and unlawful movement that cannot be seen as form of antinational rebellion; however, the soldiers and the officials of the Borbonic Army who joined the movement cannot be defined as betrayers of the ongoing Italy. It is also not credible the Expedition of the Thousand could have caused the annexation of the

Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the pe ...

to the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

by itself, while the main political and cultural foundations had been thrown by the works of intellectuals like

Francesco Mario Pagano Francesco Mario Pagano (8 December 1748 – 29 October 1799) was an Italian jurist, author, thinker, and the founder of the Neapolitan school of law.''The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Political Thought'', ed. Goldie & Wokler, 2006, p. ...

and

Vincenzo Cuoco Vincenzo Cuoco (October 1, 1770 – December 14, 1823) was an Italian writer. He is mainly remembered for his ''Saggio Storico sulla Rivoluzione Napoletana del 1799'' ("Historical Essay on the Neapolitan Revolution of 1799"). He is a considered o ...

produced in the 1790s. via �
DOAJ
If he did not believe the national identity is always something of more important than sub-national or sovra-national ones, Amato believes in the multi-layer identities model proposed by Alberto Banti in a way for which the European identity strengthens the Italian identity even when they live and work in a foreign country. According to him, the Italian identity is kept alive in any country in which they should have gone.

Electoral history

First-past-the-post elections

Honour

* : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (23 december 2011)

References

External links

Giuliano Amato's Project Syndicate op/eds

Giuliano Amato teaching at the Master in International Public Affairs at the LUISS Guido Carli University School of Government in Rome.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amato, Giuliano 1938 births Living people Politicians from Turin People of Sicilian descent Italian Socialist Party politicians Democratic Party (Italy) politicians Prime Ministers of Italy Deputy Prime Ministers of Italy Italian Ministers of the Interior Deputies of Legislature IX of Italy Deputies of Legislature X of Italy Deputies of Legislature XI of Italy Senators of Legislature XIV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XV of Italy Politicians of Piedmont Judges of the Constitutional Court of Italy University of Pisa alumni Columbia Law School alumni European University Institute faculty Sapienza University of Rome faculty University of Florence faculty University of Modena and Reggio Emilia faculty University of Perugia faculty Vice Presidents of the Constitutional Court of Italy Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic