Alcide De Gasperi

Alcide De Gasperi (born 3 April 1881 in Pieve Tesino in the Tirol, Austria-Hungary, now part of the Province of Trento in Italy); died 19 August 1954 in Sella di Valsugana in the same province) was an Italian statesman and politician. He is considered to be one of the Founding Fathers of the European communities, along with the Frenchman Robert Schuman and the German Konrad Adenauer.

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3 April - 1881 - Pieve Tesino - Tirol - Austria-Hungary - Province of Trento - Italy - 19 August - 1954 - Sella di Valsugana - Statesman - Politician - Founding Fathers - European communities - Frenchman - Robert Schuman - German - Konrad Adenauer

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De Gasperi studied philosophy and literature in Vienna, and afterwards he became a journalist. In 1911 he became a Member of Parliament in the Austrian Reichsrat. Moving to Italy after the First World War, in 1919 he was one the founders, with Don Luigi Sturzo, of the Italian Popular Party, or Partito Popolare; starting in 1921 he was an MP for the party. He later became party leader and Secretary-General.

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Philosophy - Literature - Vienna - Journalist - 1911 - Member of Parliament - Austria - Reichsrat - 1919 - Luigi Sturzo - Partito Popolare - 1921 - Party leader - Secretary-General

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De Gasperi served a 16-month jail sentence as an anti-fascist. After his release in 1931 he worked in the library of the Vatican; there, in 1943 during the Second World War, he organized the establishment of the first (and at the time, illegal) Christian Democracy party, or Democrazia Cristiana, drawing upon the ideology of the Popular Party. From 1945 to 1953 he was the prime minister of eight successive Christian Democratic governments. His eight-years of rule remain a landmark of political longevity for one leader in modern Italian politics.

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Anti-fascist - 1931 - Vatican - 1943 - Second World War - Democrazia Cristiana - 1945 - 1953 - Prime minister - Government

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In 1952 he received the Karlspreis (engl.: International Charlemagne Prize of the City of Aachen), an Award by the German city of Aachen to people who contributed to the European idea and European peace.

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1952 - Karlspreis - Aachen

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De Gasperi is buried in the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, a basilica in Rome.

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Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura - Rome

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