On 24 February 30 years ago, Sandro Pertini died in Rome at the age of ninety-three. The President of the Republic most loved by Italians, a great protagonist of political life. Enrolled in the Unitarian Socialist Party since 1924, he was imprisoned and confined during Fascism. He participated in the Resistance among the top leaders of the Alta Italia National Liberation Committee. Elected on 8 July 1978 as President of the Republic with a very large and unprecedented majority (832 votes out of 995), he marked his action with a remarkable dynamism, giving a more active interpretation of the position and functions of President of the Republic. Endowed with great communication and with a simple and effective language, in very difficult years and in often dramatic circumstances he received the wide consensus of those who saw him as the representative of a different Italy, untouched by scandals.
"Thirty years after his death, the testimony and civil passion of President Sandro Pertini are rooted in the hearts of Italians and are a source of great gratitude for the Republic, for his example of dedication to institutions, generosity and courage, since his consistently anti-fascist youth militancy. Pertini, having crossed the history of the 20th century as a protagonist, was the builder of Italian democracy ".
"Political militancy - writes the Head of State - was always accompanied, in him, by the ability to recognize the common good and the paths of unity in pursuing it. An uncompromising defender of universal rights and of the characteristics proper to the Constitution, he was a firm leverage in support of principles of freedom in the most dramatic and bloody season of terrorism. He believed in democracy as a goal of humanity, deeply interpreting the sentiments of citizens. He looked to young people as continuers of the values of peace, justice and social cohesion, democracy and freedom, on which based the Italian Republic. The example of President Pertini is part of that common heritage to draw on to face new times ".
