Emma Bonino has died at the age of 78. The historic radical leader and champion of numerous civil rights battles had been hospitalized on September 7 at Rome’s Santo Spirito hospital. In recent hours she had left intensive care and been transferred to a private facility, while her condition continued to be described as delicate. News of her passing was announced by +Europa.
Bonino was one of the best-known figures in Italian politics over the past fifty years. First elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1976, she went on to hold numerous institutional posts in Italy and Europe.
She served as a Member of the European Parliament and senator, European commissioner, minister for International Trade and European Policies in the second Prodi government, and foreign minister in the Letta government. Her political journey remained closely tied to radical campaigns for civil rights and women’s emancipation.
Among the messages of condolence was one from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who remembered Bonino as “a strong and recognizable voice in Italian politics,” stressing that, despite their political differences, she had always acknowledged “her weight and role in the public life of our Nation.”
