Senators for life in Italy (; ; ) are members of the Italian Senate who are either appointed by the President of the Italian Republic "for outstanding patriotic merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field" or are former presidents and thus senators for life ex officio.. A maximum of five appointed senators for life can be in office at the same time.
Every Italian president has made at least one appointment of a senator for life, with the exception of Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (since in his term there were more than five) and inaugural officeholder Enrico De Nicola (whose provisional mandate only lasted two years). The president who appointed the highest number of senators for life was Luigi Einaudi, who made eight appointments during his term. Of the incumbent senators President Giorgio Napolitano appointed professor Mario Monti on 9 November 2011, and researcher Elena Cattaneo, architect Renzo Piano and Nobel-laureate physicist Carlo Rubbia on 30 August 2013; President Sergio Mattarella appointed Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre on 19 January 2018.
Senators for life can decide not to be part of any parliamentary group, as opposed to elected senators who, if not affiliated with any specific political movement, automatically become members of the Mixed Group. only four women have been nominated senators for life in Italy, namely politician Camilla Ravera, Nobel-laureate neurobiologist Rita Levi-Montalcini and incumbent senators Elena Cattaneo and Liliana Segre.
Limitations The Italian Constitution originally provided that the President of the Republic may appoint up to five senators for life. This resulted in a debate whether five was intended to be the maximum overall number of senators for life (restrictive interpretation), or if each president had the ability to appoint up to five senators, regardless of how many had been appointed by their predecessors and were still living (extensive interpretation). The former interpretation enjoyed the support of a majority of scholars until 1984, when President Sandro Pertini and his successor Francesco Cossiga applied the latter interpretation. Subsequent presidents applied varying standards. Oscar Luigi Scalfaro appointed none, in deference to the stricter reading, while both Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Giorgio Napolitano appointed five each. The 2020 constitutional reform ended the debate by establishing unambiguously a limit of five overall appointed senators.
List of senators for life
Portrait Senator Known for Date of appointment Appointed by End of appointment (reason) Length of appointmentEnrico De NicolaPresident (1946–1948)12 May 1948ex officio1 October 1959 (death)Guido CastelnuovoMathematician5 December 1949Luigi Einaudi27 April 1952 (death)Arturo ToscaniniConductor5 December 19497 December 1949 (resignation)Pietro CanonicaSculptor, painter and conductor1 December 19508 June 1959 (death)Gaetano De SanctisHistorian1 December 19509 April 1957 (death)Pasquale JannacconeEconomist1 December 195022 December 1959 (death)Carlo Alberto SalustriPoet1 December 195021 December 1950 (death)Luigi SturzoPriest17 September 19528 August 1959 (death)Umberto Zanotti BiancoArcheologist17 September 195228 August 1963 (death)Luigi EinaudiPresident (1948–1955)11 May 1955ex officio30 October 1961 (death)Giuseppe ParatorePolitician and attorney9 November 1957Giovanni Gronchi26 February 1967 (death)Giovanni GronchiPresident (1955–1962)11 May 1962ex officio17 October 1978 (death)Cesare MerzagoraPolitician2 March 1963Antonio Segni1 May 1991 (death)Ferruccio ParriPrime Minister (1945)2 March 19638 December 1981 (death)Meuccio RuiniPolitician2 March 19636 March 1970 (death)Antonio SegniPrime Minister (1955–1957, 1959–1960); President (1962–1964)6 December 1964ex officio1 December 1972 (death)Vittorio VallettaIndustrialist28 November 1966Giuseppe Saragat10 August 1967 (death)Eugenio MontalePoet and prose writer13 June 196712 September 1981 (death)Giovanni LeonePrime Minister (1963, 1968)27 August 196723 December 1971 (elected President)President (1971–1978)15 June 1978ex officio9 November 2001 (death)Pietro NenniPolitician25 November 1970Giuseppe Saragat1 January 1980 (death)Giuseppe SaragatPresident (1964–1971)29 December 1971ex officio11 June 1988 (death)Amintore FanfaniPrime Minister (1954, 1958–1959, 1960–1963, 1982–1983, 1987)10 March 1972Giovanni Leone20 November 1999 (death)Leo ValianiHistorian, politician and journalist12 January 1980Sandro Pertini18 September 1999 (death)Eduardo De FilippoActor28 September 198131 October 1984 (death)Camilla RaveraPolitician8 January 198214 April 1988 (death)Carlo BoPoet18 July 198421 July 2001 (death)Norberto BobbioPhilosopher18 July 19849 January 2004 (death)Sandro PertiniPresident (1978–1985)29 June 1985ex officio24 February 1990 (death)Giovanni SpadoliniPrime Minister (1981–1982)2 May 1991Francesco Cossiga4 August 1994 (death)Giovanni AgnelliIndustrialist1 June 199124 January 2003 (death)Giulio AndreottiPrime Minister (1972–1973, 1976–1979, 1989–1992)1 June 19916 May 2013 (death)Francesco De MartinoPolitician1 June 199118 November 2002 (death)Paolo Emilio TavianiPolitician1 June 199118 June 2001 (death)Francesco CossigaPrime Minister (1979–1980); President (1985–1992)28 April 1992ex officio17 August 2010 (death)Oscar Luigi ScalfaroPresident (1992–1999)16 May 199929 January 2012 (death)Rita Levi-MontalciniNeurobiologist1 August 2001Carlo Azeglio Ciampi30 December 2012 (death)Emilio ColomboPrime Minister (1970–1972)14 January 200324 June 2013 (death)Mario LuziPoet14 October 200428 February 2005 (death)Giorgio NapolitanoPolitician23 September 200515 May 2006 (elected President)President (2006–2015)14 January 2015ex officio22 September 2023 (death)Sergio PininfarinaDesigner23 September 2005Carlo Azeglio Ciampi3 July 2012 (death)Carlo Azeglio CiampiEconomist and politician; Prime Minister (1993–1994); President (1999–2006)16 May 2006ex officio16 September 2016 (death)Mario MontiEconomist and politician; Prime Minister (2011–2013)9 November 2011Giorgio Napolitanocurrently servingClaudio AbbadoConductor30 August 201320 January 2014 (death)Elena CattaneoPharmacologist30 August 2013currently servingRenzo PianoArchitect30 August 2013Carlo RubbiaPhysicist30 August 2013Liliana SegreHolocaust survivor and activist19 January 2018Sergio Mattarella
References
External links Senato.it: Senatori a vita