‘Sergio Mattarella, 40 years of Italian history’, the first biography of the outgoing Head of State arrives on 7 January

The outgoing President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella witnessed 40 years of Italian history: from Mani Pulite to the war in Kosovo, from the reform of the secret services to the “pie pact”. Tracing his political and private life over almost half a century is now Angelo Gallippi in the volume “Sergio Mattarella: 40 years of Italian history” to be released on Friday for Paese Edizioni. Physicist and former professor of computer science at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Gallippi was then president of the first Regional Committee for Communications (Corecom) of the Lazio Region and is the first to write a biography of President Mattarella. of the preface to the volume, no one had so far outlined the entire work of Mattarella, who “embodies a double exception. He has gained extraordinary experience as a servant of the institutions: parliamentarian, minister, vice-premier, constitutional judge and most recently President of the Republic. And yet little is known about the man Mattarella. Among the public figures of our time he is perhaps the most shy, probably the least inclined to talk about himself, to advertise himself. The Anti-Narcissus par excellence “. A “respectable” President, who has always maintained “a high level of approval” Gallippi writes. The volume draws a broad panorama of the First and Second Republics and aims to be “a useful tool for the scholars of tomorrow”. Mattarella’s path, in fact, is intertwined with the events of the country: from the assassination of his brother Piersanti to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, from the epilogue of party politics to the challenge of populisms, passing through the investigations on the affiliates of the P2 Masonic lodge, the reform of the CNEL, the abolition of compulsory military service, the introduction in the elementary school of the ‘module’ of three teachers on two classes, the elevation of the Carabinieri to the rank of armed force, the dismantling of the Porcellum. (continues) Gallippi tells the story of Mattarella thanks to a vision, “full of curiosity, which along the way collects surprising fruits and reveals some very private aspects, in some cases unknown even to close collaborators”, as Magri still points out. Elected with 665 votes out of 910, he immediately pointed out that his role would be that of an arbitrator who “is responsible for the timely application of the rules”, with absolute impartiality. Although, especially in the last phase, he took charge of significant acts such as the veto opposed to the appointment of Paolo Savona as Minister of the Economy or the choice of Mario Draghi to lead a representative government by autonomous presidential initiative. “Sergio Mattarella: 40 years of Italian history” will be available from Friday in bookstores and online stores also in an eBook version.