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Mario Scelba
Mario Scelba (pronounced [ˈmaːrjo ʃˈʃɛlba] ⓘ; 5 September 1901 – 29 October 1991) was an Italian politician and statesman who was the 33rd prime minister of Italy from February 1954 to July 1955. A founder of Christian Democracy (DC), Scelba was one of the longest-serving Minister of the Interior in the history of the republic, having served at the Viminale Palace in three distinct terms from 1947 to 1962.
A fervent pro-Europeanist, Scelba was President of the European Parliament from March 1969 to March 1971. Known for his law and order policies, he was a key figure in Italy's post-war reconstruction, thanks to his drastic reorganization of the Italian police, which came out heavily disorganised from the war.
Scelba was born in Caltagirone, Sicily, in 1901. His father Gaetano Scelba was a poor sharecropper on land owned by the priest Don Luigi Sturzo, while his mother Maria Gambino was a housewife. The couple had five children, one of whom died during his young age. Scelba grew up in an observant Catholic family. At only 12 years old, he was forced to leave school to help his family's finances. In 1914, Don Sturzo took steps to guarantee an education to Scelba, who began attending the first class of the lower gymnasium in Caltagirone. The outbreak of the World War I forced the institute to suspend lessons and Scelba recovered the lost years by studying as a privatist and achieving the classical diploma in 1920. He then studied law and graduated at the Sapienza University of Rome in 1924, with a thesis on regional decentralization.
During university, he was selected by Sturzo as his private assistant and secretary. From 1919 Sturzo was in fact the leader of a Christian-democratic party, the Italian People's Party (PPI), and was one of the most important politicians in the country. When the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini rose to power, suppressing all the other parties, including the PPI, Sturzo was forced into exile, while Scelba remained in Rome as his informer. During the regime, Scelba wrote for the newspaper Il Popolo ("The People"); when it was banned by the Italian fascist regime in 1925, he founded a clandestine weekly newspaper known as L'idea popolare ("People's Idea"). In these years, Scelba started his career as a lawyer in the law firm of Filippo Del Giudice, and when the latter was forced to leave the country to save from fascist repression, Scelba inherited his customers.
In 1929 Scelba married Nerina Palestini, from San Benedetto del Tronto, from whom he had a daughter Maria Luisa, born in 1930.
During the 1930s Scelba became a close friend of Alcide De Gasperi, former leader of the People's Party after Sturzo's exile. Along with De Gasperi, he collaborated in the drafting of the "Reconstructive Ideas of Christian Democracy", the first programmatic document of the future party, which was published in July 1943. Scelba was part of the committee which led the new party, known as the DC, during the German occupation. He was also arrested by the Nazis but was released within three days. After the liberation of Rome in June 1944, he joined the executive committee of the new party. In the interregional congress of the DC, held in Naples on 29 and 30 July 1944, Scelba was elected to the party's national council, which appointed De Gasperi as new secretary. Scelba was instead appointed deputy secretary.
In September 1943, as a member of the DC, Scelba joined the National Liberation Committee (CLN), a political umbrella organization and the main representative of the Italian resistance movement fighting against the German occupation of Italy in the aftermath of the armistice of Cassibile. On 21 June 1945, Ferruccio Parri, leader of the Action Party, became the new prime minister and appointed Scelba as Minister of Mails and Telecommunications, a position that he would held until February 1947, even under the premiership of Alcide De Gasperi.
On 25 September 1945 Scelba was appointed to the National Council, the unelected legislative assembly established in the Kingdom of Italy after the end of the war. In the 1946 Italian general election, Scelba was elected in the Constituent Assembly for the constituency of Catania–Messina–Siracusa–Ragusa–Enna with nearly 40,000 votes.
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Mario Scelba
Mario Scelba (pronounced [ˈmaːrjo ʃˈʃɛlba] ⓘ; 5 September 1901 – 29 October 1991) was an Italian politician and statesman who was the 33rd prime minister of Italy from February 1954 to July 1955. A founder of Christian Democracy (DC), Scelba was one of the longest-serving Minister of the Interior in the history of the republic, having served at the Viminale Palace in three distinct terms from 1947 to 1962.
A fervent pro-Europeanist, Scelba was President of the European Parliament from March 1969 to March 1971. Known for his law and order policies, he was a key figure in Italy's post-war reconstruction, thanks to his drastic reorganization of the Italian police, which came out heavily disorganised from the war.
Scelba was born in Caltagirone, Sicily, in 1901. His father Gaetano Scelba was a poor sharecropper on land owned by the priest Don Luigi Sturzo, while his mother Maria Gambino was a housewife. The couple had five children, one of whom died during his young age. Scelba grew up in an observant Catholic family. At only 12 years old, he was forced to leave school to help his family's finances. In 1914, Don Sturzo took steps to guarantee an education to Scelba, who began attending the first class of the lower gymnasium in Caltagirone. The outbreak of the World War I forced the institute to suspend lessons and Scelba recovered the lost years by studying as a privatist and achieving the classical diploma in 1920. He then studied law and graduated at the Sapienza University of Rome in 1924, with a thesis on regional decentralization.
During university, he was selected by Sturzo as his private assistant and secretary. From 1919 Sturzo was in fact the leader of a Christian-democratic party, the Italian People's Party (PPI), and was one of the most important politicians in the country. When the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini rose to power, suppressing all the other parties, including the PPI, Sturzo was forced into exile, while Scelba remained in Rome as his informer. During the regime, Scelba wrote for the newspaper Il Popolo ("The People"); when it was banned by the Italian fascist regime in 1925, he founded a clandestine weekly newspaper known as L'idea popolare ("People's Idea"). In these years, Scelba started his career as a lawyer in the law firm of Filippo Del Giudice, and when the latter was forced to leave the country to save from fascist repression, Scelba inherited his customers.
In 1929 Scelba married Nerina Palestini, from San Benedetto del Tronto, from whom he had a daughter Maria Luisa, born in 1930.
During the 1930s Scelba became a close friend of Alcide De Gasperi, former leader of the People's Party after Sturzo's exile. Along with De Gasperi, he collaborated in the drafting of the "Reconstructive Ideas of Christian Democracy", the first programmatic document of the future party, which was published in July 1943. Scelba was part of the committee which led the new party, known as the DC, during the German occupation. He was also arrested by the Nazis but was released within three days. After the liberation of Rome in June 1944, he joined the executive committee of the new party. In the interregional congress of the DC, held in Naples on 29 and 30 July 1944, Scelba was elected to the party's national council, which appointed De Gasperi as new secretary. Scelba was instead appointed deputy secretary.
In September 1943, as a member of the DC, Scelba joined the National Liberation Committee (CLN), a political umbrella organization and the main representative of the Italian resistance movement fighting against the German occupation of Italy in the aftermath of the armistice of Cassibile. On 21 June 1945, Ferruccio Parri, leader of the Action Party, became the new prime minister and appointed Scelba as Minister of Mails and Telecommunications, a position that he would held until February 1947, even under the premiership of Alcide De Gasperi.
On 25 September 1945 Scelba was appointed to the National Council, the unelected legislative assembly established in the Kingdom of Italy after the end of the war. In the 1946 Italian general election, Scelba was elected in the Constituent Assembly for the constituency of Catania–Messina–Siracusa–Ragusa–Enna with nearly 40,000 votes.
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