Giuseppe Alessi

For the Italian soccer player born in 1977, see Giuseppe Alessi (soccer player).
Giuseppe Alessi
Member of
Italian Chamber of Deputies
In office
27 May 1968 – 24 May 1972
Constituency Palermo
Italian Republic Senator
In office
1963–1968
1st and 3rd President of Sicily
In office
1955–1956
In office
1947–1949
Personal details
Born 29 October 1905(1905-10-29)
San Cataldo, CL
Died 13 July 2009(2009-07-13) (aged 103)
Palermo
Political party Democrazia Cristiana

Giuseppe Alessi (29 October 1905 - 13 July 2009) was an Italian politician.

He was born in San Cataldo in the province of Caltanissetta (Sicily). He was one of the founding members of the Christian Democratic (Democrazia Cristiana) party on the island and became the first elected President of the Regional Government of Sicily. He was a member of the reform wing of the DC. From 1968–1972 he was a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.

Journalist Alexander Stille interviewed Alessi in the 1990s and asked him about the relations between the Christian Democrats and the Mafia: "It happened this way. Some people in the Christian Democratic Party approached the separatists, whose backbone were these Mafia bosses and invited them to join the national parties ... [T]he Mafiosi were looking for the road to power, to secure the support they needed for their economic affairs. If the mayor was Republican, they became Republican, if he was Socialist, they were Socialist, if he was Christian Democrat they became Christian Democrat."

Alessi now defends them as a necessary evil of the Cold War period: "The Christian Democrats subordinated their ideals for a supreme interest of national importance: saving the democratic state. The victory of Communism would have meant Italy ended up behind the Iron Curtain."

Alessi's justification of his party's dealings with the Mafia is based on a romantic view of the Mafia of the 1940s an 1950s: "They weren't criminals, they were local potentates, neighbourhood bosses, proud men of prestige. Their crimes were basically economic - fraud, forgery, illegal appropriation of property - but they disliked real crime."[1]

Death

Alessi died in Palermo, aged 103, on 13 July 2009.

References

  1. ^ All The Prime Minister's Men, by Alexander Stille, The Independent on Sunday, 24 September 1995.

External links

High Commissioners: Musotto • Aldisio • D'Antoni • Selvaggi • Presidents of the regional Council: Alessi • Restivo • Alessi • La Loggia • Milazzo • Majorana • Corallo • D'Angelo • Coniglio • Giumarra • Carollo • Fasino • Giumarra • Bonfiglio • Mattarella • Giuliano • D'Acquisto • Lo Giudice • Nicita • Sardo • Nicolosi • Leanza • Campione • Martino • Graziano • Provenzano • Drago • Capodicasa • Leanza • Presidents of the Region: Cuffaro • Lombardo