Eugenio Scalfari

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The Honourable
Eugenio Scalfari
OMRI, LH
Eugenio Scalfari by Francesca Marchi - International Journalism Festival 2011 - cropped.jpg
Member of Italian Chamber of Deputies
In office
5 June 1968 – 24 May 1972
Constituency Turin
Personal details
Born (1924-04-06) 6 April 1924 (age 100)
Civitavecchia, Italy
Nationality Italian
Political party National Fascist Party
(1942-1943)
Italian Liberal Party
(1946-1956)
Radical Party
(1956-1968)
Italian Socialist Party
(1968-1976)
Spouse(s) Simonetta De Benedetti (m. 1950–2006); her death
Giuliana Rossetti (m. 2008)
Children Two daughters
Residence Velletri, Lazio, Italy
Alma mater University of Genoa
Profession Journalist

Eugenio Scalfari (Italian: [euˈdʒɛnjo ˈskalfari]; born 6 April 1924 in Civitavecchia) is an Italian journalist, editor of the news magazine L'espresso (1963–1968), former member of parliament in the Italian Chamber of Deputies (1968–1972), co-founder of the newspaper La Repubblica and its editor from 1976 to 1996.

Early life

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Career

A law graduate with an interest in journalism and politics, Scalfari worked for on the influential postwar magazines Il Mondo and L'Europeo. In 1955 he was among the founders of the Radical Party.[1]

In October 1955, jointly with Arrigo Benedetti he co-founded one of Italy's foremost newsmagazines L'Espresso with capital from the progressive industrialist Adriano Olivetti, manufacturer of Olivetti typewriters.[2][3] The experienced Benedetti, who had directed the newsmagazine L'Europeo (1945–54), was the first editor-in-chief until 1963, when he handed over to Scalfari.[4]

In January 1976 the Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso also launched the centre-left daily newspaper La Repubblica in a joint venture with Arnoldo Mondadori Editore. Scalfari became the editor-in-chief and remained so until 1996.[4] Few believed such a venture could succeed in the already crowded Italian newspaper market, but under Scalfari’s skilful editorship La Repubblica prospered to the point of rivaling the prestigious Corriere della Sera in both sales and status as a national daily.[1]

He remains active in both La Repubblica and L'Espresso. He has also published a number of books including l’Autunno della Repubblica (Autumn of the Republic) (1969) and the novel Il Labirinto (The Labyrinth) (1998).[1]

Notable reporting

As a journalist, he was especially active in investigative reporting, uncovering illegal right-wing activities and major government cover-ups.[1] With Lino Jannuzzi he uncovered the attempted 1964 coup d'état by General Giovanni Di Lorenzo in May 1967.[5]

In July 2014, he reported, in an interview, Pope Francis's controversial statement that approximately 2% of the Catholic Church's total number of priests, including bishops and cardinals, were pedophiles.[6]

Politics

Initially, like a lot of Italians of the time, Scalfari was a sure fascist, and described himself like "Young, happy and fascist".[7]

After the WW2, Scalfari was near to the Italian Liberal Party, but in 1956 he participated to the split out the party of the "Radicals" (leftist liberals), like Marco Pannella and Ernesto Rossi, that formed the Radical Party.

In 1968, Scalfari was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies (1968–1972) as an independent aligned to the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and handed over his post as editor to Gianni Corbi.[8]

Political positions

Scalfari described himself as libertarian,[9] but also "liberal of social mold".[10] He has been a pro-choice in the referendums of 1981. Later, was a critics of the Silvio Berlusconi's political action, but more moderate respect the current positions of "La Repubblica".

Personal

He is an atheist.[11] In 2013, he received a personal and detailed explanation from Pope Francis about atheism and forgiveness.[12][13]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Encyclopedia of contemporary Italian culture, CRC Press, 2000, p. 747
  2. ↑ Encyclopedia of contemporary Italian culture, CRC Press, 2000, p. 290
  3. ↑ Encyclopedia of Italian literary studies, CRC Press, 2007, p. 980
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 History, Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (Retrieved January 30, 2010)
  5. ↑ Cento Bull, Italian Neofascism, p. 4
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ La Repubblica, 8 May 2005
  12. ↑ Papa Francesco scrive a Repubblica: "Dialogo aperto con i non credenti", La Repubblica, 11 September 2013. Retrieved 12 Sept 2013
  13. ↑ Pope Francis tells atheists to abide by their own consciences, The Guardian, 12 Sept 2013. Retrieved 12 Sept 2013

Cento Bull, Anna (2007). Italian Neofascism: The Strategy of Tension and the Politics of Nonreconciliation, Oxford: Berghahn Books, ISBN 1-84545-335-2

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