Alcide degasperi
Alcide De Gasperi (Pieve Ticino, April 3, 1881-Borgo Valsugana, August 19, 1954) was an Italian politician, who – along with Konrad Adenauer, Robert Schuman and Jean Monnet – He is considered the "father of Europe", since he contributed decisively to the creation of the European Communities. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, as well as founder of Christian Democracy and last secretary of the Italian Popular Party.
A devout Catholic, the Catholic Church granted him the title of Servant of God in 1993, when his cause for beatification began.
Biography
Political career
He was born on April 3, 1881 in Pieve Ticino, into a bourgeois Italian family, in a region that was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Alcide De Gasperi was introduced to the political life of his region and Austria during his university years in Vienna. He began his real political career as a deputy in the Austrian parliament in 1911. He held office between 1911 and 1918 as a member of the Trentino Popular Party. After the Italian victory over Austria and the incorporation of Trentino in 1918, he acquired Italian citizenship. At the time, Gasperi represented a small Italian community within a large multinational empire. This experience gave him a more global vision of political life, enriching him with a broader, more diverse culture and served to base his Europeanist ideology.
At the outbreak of World War I, De Gasperi was head of the Refugee Committee. He helped thousands of exiles from Trento, detained by the Austrian government for military reasons, to emigrate to the interior of the country. After the annexation of Trento to Italy, at the end of the war, he became involved, along with Father Luigi Sturzo, Alberto Marvelli and various laymen and politicians, in the creation of the Italian People's Party (P.P.I.) (later renamed Christian Democracy)., in Italy. Elected deputy for Trento in 1921, he chaired the PPI parliamentary group. He played an important role in Italian political life until Benito Mussolini came to power in 1922.
As an opponent, he was accused of anti-fascist activities, was arrested and sentenced to four years in prison. Despite his release, he remained under surveillance until the fall of Mussolini, holding a clerk position at the Vatican Library.
Beginnings of the EU
At the end of World War II, De Gasperi became the undisputed leader of Christian Democracy. From 1945 to 1953, he led eight successive governments. He was also Minister of Foreign Affairs. He made Italy join NATO, integrated it into ECSC and actively supported the EDC (European Defense Community) project. He signed the De Gasperi-Gruber Agreement with his Austrian counterpart Karl Gruber in 1946.
At the beginning of the European reconstruction, Alcide de Gasperi, Robert Schuman and Konrad Adenauer met regularly and lived together the first great stages of the construction of the European Community. Between successes and failures, a deep union, solidarity and esteem was born between them. Alcide De Gasperi devoted the last years of his career to building the European community. Sacked by his own party in 1953, shortly before his death, he became the first president of the ECSC Parliamentary Assembly.
He died in 1954. After his death, the Catholic Church considered the process of his beatification.
Works
- Alcide De Gasperi, Lettere dalla prigioneRome, Edizioni Cinque Lune, 1974
- Alcide De Gasperi, French face. LettereBrescia, Morcelliana, 2004
- Alcide De Gasperi, Scritti e discorsi politici. Alcide De Gasperi nel Trentino asburgico, vol. Io, Volume Io; Volume II, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2006
Acknowledgments
His memory is remembered in the City of Resistencia, Argentina, where a small square located in the central dividing line of Avenida Ávalos bears his name. It is the third in a series of squares named after an Italian theme, these being the Trento, Cesare Battisti, Alcide de Gasperi, Udine and Friuli squares.