News from Italy
Quiet power Sergio Mattarella
Vita gazette – The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery, “Grown-up love numbers. Let’s say you talked about your new friend; they never care about the essence of the matter. For example, ‘How is the tone of voice? What games does he like?’ They never ask, ‘Is there a butterfly collection?’ Instead, ‘How old is he? How many siblings does he have? How many is he weight? How much money does his father earn? They think that this is the only way they will get to know him. He said to the elders, ‘I saw a red brick house’, if you say, ‘There were geraniums on the window and pigeons on the roof…’, they would never see this house before their eyes. This is what they should be told: ‘I saw a million-dollar house.’ That’s when they say to you, ‘Oh, how beautiful!’ Fortunately for us who know the meaning of life, numbers don’t matter!” says. We will try to walk in the light of The Little Prince and try to introduce you to the re-elected President Sergio Mattarella…
Born in Palermo, Sicily, the pearl of the Mediterranean, Sergio Mattarella grew up in a house where the winds of politics blew. His father, a lawyer like him, Bernardo Mattarella, was a struggling Italian politician who was several times minister of the Italian Republic. He was a staunch activist. He was a name known for his fight against the mafia…
The meaning of the name Sergio is ‘protector, watcher, servant’. His close friends call him ‘Sergiuzzo’ because of his Sicilian origin, but he is also called ‘Martirella’ for his melancholic expression. From the day he joined the society, he displayed a simple and humble stance. In addition to being cultured and very knowledgeable, he was also loved for his grace and kindness. Although he said no unwarranted words and barely raised his voice, politically it was always far more effective and constructive than many outcries. Despite the two tragedies he has experienced in his private life, he has always preserved his identity that raises his word, not his voice.
In the last seven years, the winds of politics have been sometimes harsh and sometimes exaggerated. But his composure, polite irony, and determination throughout the process allowed him to be re-elected, to continue as a protective force. Thus, it showed again that it is a ‘silent power’. The identity of the “loving father who brings his children together”, which came to the fore during the pandemic period and government crisis was once again emphasized during the election of the 13th President.
He experienced his first pain, which shook him deeply, in 1980. His brother, the politician Piersanti Mattarelli, was fighting against the mafia during his tenure as President of the Sicilian Region. He has come a long way in this regard. But Piersanti Mattarelli would pay for it with her life. He was assassinated on January 6, 1980. It was organized by Cosa Nostra organization…
His second deep pain came in 2012. He lost his beloved wife Marisa Chiazzese, who was the sister-in-law of his brother Piersanti, to cancer. It is known that he was very much in love with his wife, whom he met under the Sicilian sun and married in 1966 in his hometown of Palermo. After their marriage, they settled in Rome. They lived in a small rented house. They had three children: Bernardo Giorgio, Laura and Francesco. After the President’s life partner passed away, he was accompanied by their daughter, Laura Mattarella, the current First Lady of the Italian Republic. After the death of mother Marisa Chiazzese, the name that kept the family together was their daughter Laura. As the only woman in the house, she brought the family, consisting of father, grandfather, sister, uncle, niece and grandchild, together for weekend or special occasions dinners…
Sergio Mattarella also went down in Italian political history as the only head of state to have had to manage three government crises with three different majorities over three years. It would not fit on this page to describe Sergio Mattarelli, who had a great career. Let’s put a few of them here. Those who wish can read his career story in detail on the Quirinale page. Sergio Mattarella, a law graduate, was elected MP from the Christian democracy party in 1983. He was a member of the House of Representatives. He served on many commissions such as the Constitution, Foreign Affairs and Terrorism and Massacres. He became Minister of Relations with the Parliament, Minister of Education, Minister of Defense. He was elected as a member of the Presidential Council of the Administrative Judiciary. He was elected as a Constitutional Judge by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on October 5, 2011. He was elected as the twelfth President on January 31, 2015. He was re-elected as President on January 29, 2022.
And he went down in history as the president who pulled the sword out of the stone for the second time…