PM who played role in creating unified Europe
FORMER ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER
11-4-1920 - 24-6-2013
Emilio Colombo, the prime minister of Italy at the start of the 1970s who curbed roaring inflation, battled political extremism and legalised divorce in his country while helping to build an integrated Europe, has died in Rome. He was 93.
After World War II, Italian governments formed and fell with dizzying regularity, as did cabinet posts within the governments. Colombo emerged from Roman Catholic youth organisations to win a seat in parliament at 26 and then held virtually every major cabinet position - agriculture, trade, finance, foreign affairs - before he became prime minister for 18 months between 1970-72. The government he headed was Italy's 32nd since the war.
Colombo helped write some of Italy's basic postwar reforms, including those that redistributed land to the poor, nationalised electricity production and spurred development in the nation's south.
A self-described technocrat, Colombo wrote much of the Treaty of Rome, which in 1958 established the European Economic Community, a precursor to the European Community and the European Union.
As prime minister, Colombo, a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Party, juggled his and three other parties to form coalitions that would keep power from falling to the communists, whose political strength in Italy exceeded that of any country in Western Europe. He also faced down the neo-Fascist right, survived waves of strikes and violence, and imposed new and higher taxes to successfully fight galloping inflation.
Colombo's coalition collapsed in February 1972, partly over his signing, in 1970, of Italy's first law legitimising divorce. Like the Vatican, his own Christian Democrats opposed the legislation, while leftist members of the coalition demanded it.
In 1974, the law survived an attempt at a repeal, with 59.3 per cent voting to support it.
Emilio Colombo was born on April 11, 1920, to a lower middle-class family in Potenza, south-east of Naples. He earned a law degree from the University of Rome and joined Catholic Action Youth, a Vatican-backed political organisation, rising to vice-president and gaining enough prominence to win a seat in parliament in 1946. That year he was elected to a convention charged with writing a new republican constitution to replace Italy's monarchy. He was the last surviving member of that convention.
In 2003, just after being appointed a senator for life, Colombo disclosed that he had used cocaine three or four times a week for more than a year, claiming it was for "therapeutic purposes". At the same time, he disclosed that he was homosexual. For years he had told interviewers that he was too busy to marry.
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
Emilio Colombo (11 April 1920 – 24 June 2013) was an Italian politician who served as prime minister from 1970–72. He held virtually every major cabinet post (agriculture, trade, finance, foreign affairs) and helped write key postwar reforms for Italy. He is notable for helping to build an integrated Europe and for his long public career, including being the last surviving member of the 1946 convention that wrote Italy's republican constitution.
Colombo described himself as a technocrat and wrote much of the Treaty of Rome, which in 1958 established the European Economic Community (EEC) — the precursor to the European Community and the European Union. That work is cited in accounts of his role in helping to build a more integrated Europe.
Colombo helped write and support several postwar Italian reforms, including land redistribution to the poor, nationalisation of electricity production, and measures to spur development in southern Italy. Those reforms are highlighted as part of his contribution to Italy’s postwar rebuilding.
As prime minister in the early 1970s, Colombo imposed new and higher taxes and took other measures to successfully fight galloping inflation. The article notes he is credited with curbing roaring inflation during his time in office.
Colombo led coalition governments to keep power from falling to the communists and to confront the neo‑Fascist right. He also survived waves of strikes and violence. His coalition-building across multiple parties was central to maintaining stability during a turbulent postwar period.
Colombo's coalition collapsed in February 1972 partly because he signed Italy's first law legitimising divorce in 1970. The law split opinion—opposed by the Vatican and many Christian Democrats but demanded by leftist coalition partners. A 1974 referendum on repealing the law failed, with 59.3% voting to keep it.
After being appointed a senator for life in 2003, Colombo disclosed that he had used cocaine three or four times a week for more than a year, saying it was for 'therapeutic purposes.' He also disclosed that he was homosexual. These admissions were made publicly late in his career.
Colombo’s role in drafting the Treaty of Rome and in shaping Italy’s postwar economic policies (nationalisation, land reform, fiscal measures to curb inflation) is part of the historical context for modern European economic and political integration. Investors interested in European markets often benefit from understanding such historical policymaking because it helped shape institutions and national economic structures that influence markets today.
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