Giuseppe Pella

Giuseppe Pella
31st Prime Minister of Italy
In office 17 August 1953 – 18 January 1954
President	Luigi Einaudi
Preceded by	Alcide De Gasperi
Succeeded by	Amintore Fanfani
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 15 February 1959 – 25 March 1960
Prime Minister	Antonio Segni
Preceded by	Amintore Fanfani
Succeeded by	Antonio Segni
In office 19 May 1957 – 1 July 1958
Prime Minister	Adone Zoli
Preceded by	Gaetano Martino
Succeeded by	Amintore Fanfani
In office 17 August 1953 – 18 January 1954
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Alcide De Gasperi
Succeeded by	Attilio Piccioni
Minister of Treasury
In office 2 February 1952 – 17 August 1953
Prime Minister	Alcide De Gasperi
Preceded by	Ezio Vanoni
Succeeded by	Silvio Gava
In office 23 May 1948 – 26 July 1951
Prime Minister	Alcide De Gasperi
Preceded by	Gustavo Del Vecchio
Succeeded by	Ezio Vanoni
President of the European Parliament
In office 29 November 1954 – 27 November 1956
Preceded by	Alcide De Gasperi
Succeeded by	Hans Furler
Personal details
Born	(1902-04-18)18 April 1902 Valdengo, Piedmont, Kingdom of Italy
Died	31 May 1981(1981-05-31) (aged 79) Rome, Lazio, Italy
Political party	Christian Democracy

Giuseppe Pella (18 April 1902 – 31 May 1981) was an Italian Christian Democratic politician who served as the 31st Prime Minister of Italy from 1953 to 1954. He was also President of the European Parliament from 1954 to 1956 after the death of Alcide De Gasperi. His economic and monetary policies in the ministry of finance based Italian reconstruction solidly on the best liberal traditions of Western capitalism.

Biography

Giuseppe Pella was born in Valdengo, Piedmont. After graduation in Economy and Commerce, he adhered to the Christian Democracy (DC), in the right wing of the party. His first government position was as under-secretary of Finances in the II and III De Gasperi cabinets. In the IV De Gasperi he was Minister of Finances.

Pella was Minister of Treasure in 1948–1953, gaining the enmity of the Communist and Socialist parties, as well as some DC members due to his liberal and monetarist policies. After the political crisis caused by the failure of the Cheat Law, Pella was appointed Prime Minister in a deliberately provisional government. Pella gained further critics when, by issuing nationalistic declarations, he created strife with Josip Broz Tito regarding the Free Territory of Trieste. Pella resigned on 12 January 1954.

Later he was Minister of Foreign Affairs under Adone Zoli (1957–1958) and Antonio Segni (1959–1960), and Minister of Balance under Amintore Fanfani (1960–1962). Hostile to the alliance between DC and the Socialist Party, he retreated from frontline politics until 1972, when he became minister of Finances in the short-lived government led by Giulio Andreotti.

Pella was Senator until 1976. He died on 31 May 1981 in Rome, at the age of 79.

Further reading

• Gilbert, Mark; Robert K. Nilsson (2010). The A to Z of Modern Italy. Scarecrow Press. pp. 340–41.
• Ivone, D. "Giuseppe Pella e la politica liberista nella ricostruzione economica del secondo Dopoguerra." Rivista internazionale di storia della banca (1982): vol 24-25 pp 104–20.
• Lentz, Harris M. (2014). Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. Routledge. pp. 440–43.

External links

• Newspaper clippings about Giuseppe Pella in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW