Franca Pilla

Franca Pilla is a former first lady of Italy, serving during the presidency of her husband, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. She is the oldest living former first lady of both the world and Italy.

Biography

Pilla was born in Reggio Emilia on 19 December 1920. At the age of 18, she met her future husband, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. They met at a "dancing tea" which at the time was a respectable way for youth to meet. The tea was organised by mothers, and boys and girls would be allowed to practise dancing with each other.
After World War II, in which Ciampi had been a soldier and then a resistance fighter, they had a year's engagement and then married in Bologna when she was 25. They spent over seventy years together, during which time her husband was prime minister, leader of Italy's central bank, minister of finance, and later president.
During a tour of Naples, in the south of Italy, she was quoted as saying that the Italians in the south were better and more intelligent. She was known for her openness, giving the pope advice when they met. She encouraged people to read and to ignore the TV.
Pilla and Ciampi were married until his death on 16 September 2016. She turned 100 on 19 December 2020., she has been the oldest living former first lady in the world.