Giuliano Amato

Giuliano Amato (Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈljaːno aˈmaːto]; born 13 May 1938) is an Italian politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Italy, first from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2000 to 2001. Upon Arnaldo Forlani's death in July 2023, Amato became the country's earliest-serving surviving Prime Minister.

Later, he was Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted the European Constitution and headed the Amato Group. He is commonly nicknamed dottor Sottile, which means "Doctor Subtilis", the sobriquet of the Scottish Medieval philosopher John Duns Scotus, a reference to his political subtlety. From 2006 to 2008, he was the Minister of the Interior in Romano Prodi's government. He served on the Constitutional Court of Italy from September 2013 to September 2022, to which he was appointed by President Giorgio Napolitano. He also served as President of the Court from 29 January 2022 to 18 September 2022.

Biography

Born in Turin into a Sicilian family, Amato grew up in Tuscany. He received a first degree in law from the University of Pisa in 1960 while attending the prestigious Collegio Medico-Giuridico of the Scuola Normale Superiore, which today is Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies. As a Fulbright grantee, he received a master's degree in comparative law from Columbia Law School in 1963. In 1964, opposed to the party's decision to form a government with the Christian Democrats and break with the Communist Party, he participated in the split of the left wing of the party that led to the creation of the PSIUP, led by historical figures of the socialist left:

With the dissolution of the PSIUP into the PSI, he joined forces with members of the internal left wing and Marxist formation such as Antonio Giolitti and Giorgio Ruffolo.