Senators for life in Italy (Italian: senatori a vita) are members of the Italian Senate who are either appointed, limited in number up to five, by the Italian president "for outstanding patriotic merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field" or are former presidents and thus senators for life ex officio.
Every president of the Italian Republic has made at least one appointment of a senator for life, with the exception of Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (since in his term there were more than five). President Giorgio Napolitano appointed Professor Mario Monti on 9 November 2011 and conductor Claudio Abbado, researcher Elena Cattaneo, architect Renzo Piano and Nobel-laureate physicist Carlo Rubbia on 30 August 2013. The president who appointed the highest number of senators for life was Luigi Einaudi, who made eight appointments during his term.
Senators for life can decide not to be part of any parliamentary group, as opposed to elected senators who, if not affiliated with any specific political movement, automatically become members of the Mixed Group.
Limitations
The Italian Constitution provides that the president of the republic may appoint up to five senators for life. Until 2020 it was debated whether five was intended to be the maximum overall number of senators for life, or if each president had the ability to appoint up to five senators regardless of how many had been appointed by their predecessor and were still living. Until 1984 the former interpretation enjoyed the support of a majority of scholars. In that year, however, President Sandro Pertini applied the latter interpretation. Pertini's successors applied varying standards. Oscar Luigi Scalfaro appointed none, in deference to the stricter reading, while both Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Giorgio Napolitano appointed five each.
Eventually, the 2020 constitutional reform ended the debate by establishing unambiguously a limit of five overall appointed senators.
List of senators for life
Currently serving| Senator | Known for | Date of appointment | Appointed by | End of appointment (reason) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrico De Nicola | President (1946–1948) | 12 May 1948 | ex officio | 1 October 1959 (death) |
| Guido Castelnuovo | Mathematician | 5 December 1949 | Luigi Einaudi | 27 April 1952 (death) |
| Arturo Toscanini | Conductor | 5 December 1949 | Luigi Einaudi | 7 December 1949 (resignation) |
| Pietro Canonica | Sculptor, painter and conductor | 1 December 1950 | Luigi Einaudi | 8 June 1959 (death) |
| Gaetano De Sanctis | Historian | 1 December 1950 | Luigi Einaudi | 9 April 1957 (death) |
| Pasquale Jannaccone | Economist | 1 December 1950 | Luigi Einaudi | 22 December 1959 (death) |
| Carlo Alberto Salustri | Poet | 1 December 1950 | Luigi Einaudi | 21 December 1950 (death) |
| Luigi Sturzo | Priest | 17 September 1952 | Luigi Einaudi | 8 August 1959 (death) |
| Umberto Zanotti Bianco | Archeologist | 17 September 1952 | Luigi Einaudi | 28 August 1963 (death) |
| Luigi Einaudi | President (1948–1955) | 11 May 1955 | ex officio | 30 October 1961 (death) |
| Giuseppe Paratore | Politician and attorney | 9 November 1957 | Giovanni Gronchi | 26 February 1967 (death) |
| Giovanni Gronchi | President (1955–1962) | 11 May 1962 | ex officio | 17 October 1978 (death) |
| Cesare Merzagora | Politician | 2 March 1963 | Antonio Segni | 1 May 1991 (death) |
| Ferruccio Parri | Prime Minister (1945) | 2 March 1963 | Antonio Segni | 8 December 1981 (death) |
| Meuccio Ruini | Politician | 2 March 1963 | Antonio Segni | 6 March 1970 (death) |
| Antonio Segni | President (1962–1964) | 6 December 1964 | ex officio | 1 December 1972 (death) |
| Vittorio Valletta | Industrialist | 28 November 1966 | Giuseppe Saragat | 10 August 1967 (death) |
| Eugenio Montale | Poet and prose writer | 13 June 1967 | Giuseppe Saragat | 12 September 1981 (death) |
| Giovanni Leone | Prime Minister (1963, 1968) President (1971–1978) |
27 August 1967 15 June 1978 |
Giuseppe Saragat ex officio |
23 December 1971 (elected President) 9 November 2001 (death) |
| Pietro Nenni | Politician | 25 November 1970 | Giuseppe Saragat | 1 January 1980 (death) |
| Giuseppe Saragat | President (1964–1971) | 29 December 1971 | ex officio | 11 June 1988 (death) |
| Amintore Fanfani | Prime Minister (1954, 1958–1959, 1960–1963, 1982–1983, 1987) | 10 March 1972 | Giovanni Leone | 20 November 1999 (death) |
| Leo Valiani | Historian, politician and journalist | 12 January 1980 | Sandro Pertini | 18 September 1999 (death) |
| Eduardo De Filippo | Actor | 28 September 1981 | Sandro Pertini | 31 October 1984 (death) |
| Camilla Ravera | Politician | 8 January 1982 | Sandro Pertini | 14 April 1988 (death) |
| Carlo Bo | Poet | 18 July 1984 | Sandro Pertini | 21 July 2001 (death) |
| Norberto Bobbio | Philosopher | 18 July 1984 | Sandro Pertini | 9 January 2004 (death) |
| Sandro Pertini | President (1978–1985) | 29 June 1985 | ex officio | 24 February 1990 (death) |
| Giovanni Spadolini | Prime Minister (1981–1982) | 2 May 1991 | Francesco Cossiga | 4 August 1994 (death) |
| Giovanni Agnelli | Industrialist | 1 June 1991 | Francesco Cossiga | 24 January 2003 (death) |
| Giulio Andreotti | Prime Minister (1972–1973, 1976–1979, 1989–1992) | 1 June 1991 | Francesco Cossiga | 6 May 2013 (death) |
| Francesco De Martino | Politician | 1 June 1991 | Francesco Cossiga | 18 November 2002 (death) |
| Paolo Emilio Taviani | Politician | 1 June 1991 | Francesco Cossiga | 18 June 2001 (death) |
| Francesco Cossiga | President (1985–1992) | 28 April 1992 | ex officio | 17 August 2010 (death) |
| Oscar Luigi Scalfaro | President (1992–1999) | 16 May 1999 | ex officio | 29 January 2012 (death) |
| Rita Levi-Montalcini | Neurologist | 1 August 2001 | Carlo Azeglio Ciampi | 30 December 2012 (death) |
| Emilio Colombo | Prime Minister (1970–1972) | 14 January 2003 | Carlo Azeglio Ciampi | 24 June 2013 (death) |
| Mario Luzi | Poet | 14 October 2004 | Carlo Azeglio Ciampi | 28 February 2005 (death) |
| Giorgio Napolitano | Politician President (2006–2015) |
23 September 2005 14 January 2015 |
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi ex officio |
15 May 2006 (elected President) 22 September 2023 (death) |
| Sergio Pininfarina | Designer and politician | 23 September 2005 | Carlo Azeglio Ciampi | 3 July 2012 (death) |
| Carlo Azeglio Ciampi | Economist and politician Prime Minister (1993–1994); President (1999–2006) |
16 May 2006 | ex officio | 16 September 2016 (death) |
| Mario Monti | Economist and politician Prime Minister (2011–2013) |
9 November 2011 | Giorgio Napolitano | currently serving |
| Claudio Abbado | Conductor | 30 August 2013 | Giorgio Napolitano | 20 January 2014 (death) |
| Elena Cattaneo | Scientist | 30 August 2013 | Giorgio Napolitano | currently serving |
| Renzo Piano | Architect | 30 August 2013 | Giorgio Napolitano | currently serving |
| Carlo Rubbia | Physicist | 30 August 2013 | Giorgio Napolitano | currently serving |
| Liliana Segre | Holocaust survivor and activist | 19 January 2018 | Sergio Mattarella | currently serving |
Gallery of current senators for life
-
Mario Monti
(age 81) -
Elena Cattaneo
(age 62) -
Renzo Piano
(age 87) -
Carlo Rubbia
(age 90) -
Liliana Segre
(age 94)
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External links
- Senato.it: Senatori a vita (in Italian)