Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
President of the Italian Republic Emeritus and Senator for life
Banker and politician, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi was born in Livorno on December 9th, 1920. He received a degree in literature from the Scuola Normale of Pisa in 1941, and a degree in Law from the University of Pisa in 1946. That same year he began working at the Banca d’Italia where, in 1979, he was nominated Governor and President of the Italian Exchange Office, roles he held until April 28th, 1993. From April 1993 to May 1994 he was the Italian Prime Minister, overseeing a government of transition. During the 13th parliament he was the Treasury Minister, first for the Prodi administration (from April 1996 to October 1998) and then the D’Alema administration (from October 1998 to May 1999). Since 1993 he has been an Honorary Governor of the Banca d’Italia and since 1996 he has been a member of the board of the Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. On May 13th, 1999 he was elected, in the first election, the tenth President of the Italian Republic. He has held a variety of roles of international importance, including: president of the EU governor’s committee and of the European Monetary Cooperation Fund (in 1982 and 1987); Vice-president of the International Regulations Bank (from 1994 to 1996); president of the consulting group for competitiveness for the European Commission (from 1995 to 1996): President of the interm committee of the International Monetary Fund (from October 1998 to May 1999).