Former Italian president Giorgio Napolitano has passed away. He died today in Rome at the age of 97. The former head of state had health problems for some time.
Napolitano was elected President of the Republic on 15 May 2006 and then for a second time on 22 April 2013, this time remaining in office for less than two years.
Born in Naples in 1925, he was the eleventh President of the Italian Republic. In 1992 he succeeded Oscar Luigi Scalfato as President of the Chamber and in 1996 he was Minister of the Interior in the Prodi I government.
He was also the first president of the Republic to have served in the ranks of the Italian Communist Party. During his period as President of the Republic, he gave government mandates to five presidents and appointed five senators for life.
