A statement issued Friday, September 22, 2023, by the presidential palace in Rome confirmed Italian news reports of the death of Giorgio Napolitano, who had been ailing in a hospital in the capital for weeks. The current president, Sergio Mattarella, in a message, hailed his predecessor as head of state, saying that Napolitano's life "mirrored a large part of (Italy's) history in the second half of the 20th century, with its dramas, its complexity, its goals, its hopes."
In a condolence telegram to Napolitano's widow, Clio, Pope Francis said the late president "showed great gifts of intellect and sincere passion for Italian political life as well as strong interest for the fates of nations" The pontiff, who is on a pilgrimage to France, noted he had had personal meetings with Napolitano, "during which I appreciated his humanity and long-range vision in assuming with rectitude important choices, especially in delicate moments for the life of the country"
Napolitano was the first former Communist to rise to Italy's presidency and the first person to be elected twice to the mostly ceremonial post. As a prominent member of what had long been the largest Communist party in the West, Napolitano had advocated positions that often veered from party orthodoxy. He sought dialogue with Italian and European socialists to end his party's isolation and as an early backer of European integration.
During the first Gulf War, Napolitano broke with the position of the leader of the Italian Communist Party to oppose the withdrawal of Italy's tiny contingent. That amounted to a radical evolution for a Communist politician, who at the time of the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary had hailed the suppression as necessary. Ultimately, his political reputation was shaped by his reformist views: After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Napolitano was among the staunchest supporters of his party's reform path, which would eventually lead to changing its name and dropping the hammer-and-sickle symbol.
Like many other future politicians of his generation, Napolitano fought against the Italian Fascists and Nazi occupiers during World War II. When the war ended, he joined the Communist Party, and in 1953, he was elected to Parliament, an office he would hold for 10 straight legislatures. In 1989, he went to the United States with the party secretary for the first-ever visit by an Italian Communist leader.
During his long career, Napolitano also served as speaker of Parliament's lower Chamber of Deputies and for five years as a lawmaker in the European Parliament. In 2005, his predecessor in the Quirinal palace, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, conferred on him one of Italy's greatest honors, making him a senator-for-life. A year later, Parliament would make him president of Italy, the first former Communist – and so far the only one – to serve as head of state.
Admirers praised Napolitano's balanced attitude and gentlemanly ways. He was sometimes dubbed "King Giorgio." But critics pointed to what they saw as excessive caution. Still, when at the end of his first, seven-year term as head of state, bickering lawmakers couldn't reach a consensus on his successor, he broke with tradition and agreed to be elected to a second term – with the proviso that he wouldn't serve a full term due to advancing age. He was then 80.
Napolitano resigned in January 2015, paving the way for Mattarella, a former Christian Democrat, to be elected. Mattarella would go on to be twice elected to the presidency, again after renewed political gridlock in Parliament thwarted the election of a fresh candidate in 2022.