Senators for life in Italy


Senators for life in Italy are members of the Italian Senate who are either appointed by the President of the Italian Republic "for outstanding patriotic merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field" or are former presidents and thus senators for life ex officio. A maximum of five senators for life can be in office at the same time.
Every Italian president has made at least one appointment of a senator for life, with the exception of Oscar Luigi Scalfaro and inaugural officeholder Enrico De Nicola. The president who appointed the highest number of senators for life was Luigi Einaudi, who made eight appointments during his term. Of the incumbent senators President Giorgio Napolitano appointed professor Mario Monti on 9 November 2011, and researcher Elena Cattaneo, architect Renzo Piano and Nobel-laureate physicist Carlo Rubbia on 30 August 2013; President Sergio Mattarella appointed Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre on 19 January 2018.
Senators for life can decide not to be part of any parliamentary group, as opposed to elected senators who, if not affiliated with any specific political movement, automatically become members of the Mixed Group. only four women have been nominated senators for life in Italy, namely politician Camilla Ravera, Nobel-laureate neurobiologist Rita Levi-Montalcini and incumbent senators Elena Cattaneo and Liliana Segre.

Limitations

The Italian Constitution originally provided that the President of the Republic may appoint up to five senators for life. This resulted in a debate whether five was intended to be the maximum overall number of senators for life, or if each president had the ability to appoint up to five senators, regardless of how many had been appointed by their predecessors and were still living. The former interpretation enjoyed the support of a majority of scholars until 1984, when President Sandro Pertini and his successor Francesco Cossiga applied the latter interpretation. Subsequent presidents applied varying standards. Oscar Luigi Scalfaro appointed none, in deference to the stricter reading, while both Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Giorgio Napolitano appointed five each. The 2020 constitutional reform ended the debate by establishing unambiguously a limit of five overall appointed senators.

List of senators for life

PortraitSenatorKnown forDate of appointmentAppointed byEnd of appointment Length of appointment
Enrico De NicolaPresident 12 May 1948ex officio1 October 1959
Guido CastelnuovoMathematician5 December 1949Luigi Einaudi27 April 1952
Arturo ToscaniniConductor5 December 1949Luigi Einaudi7 December 1949
Pietro CanonicaSculptor, painter and conductor1 December 1950Luigi Einaudi8 June 1959
Gaetano De SanctisHistorian1 December 1950Luigi Einaudi9 April 1957
Pasquale JannacconeEconomist1 December 1950Luigi Einaudi22 December 1959
Carlo Alberto SalustriPoet1 December 1950Luigi Einaudi21 December 1950
Luigi SturzoPriest17 September 1952Luigi Einaudi8 August 1959
Umberto Zanotti BiancoArcheologist17 September 1952Luigi Einaudi28 August 1963
Luigi EinaudiPresident 11 May 1955ex officio30 October 1961
Giuseppe ParatorePolitician and attorney9 November 1957Giovanni Gronchi26 February 1967
Giovanni GronchiPresident 11 May 1962ex officio17 October 1978
Cesare MerzagoraPolitician2 March 1963Antonio Segni1 May 1991
Ferruccio ParriPrime Minister 2 March 1963Antonio Segni8 December 1981
Meuccio RuiniPolitician2 March 1963Antonio Segni6 March 1970
Antonio SegniPrime Minister ; President 6 December 1964ex officio1 December 1972
Vittorio VallettaIndustrialist28 November 1966Giuseppe Saragat10 August 1967
Eugenio MontalePoet and prose writer13 June 1967Giuseppe Saragat12 September 1981
Giovanni LeonePrime Minister 27 August 1967Giuseppe Saragat23 December 1971
Giovanni LeonePresident 15 June 1978ex officio9 November 2001
Pietro NenniPolitician25 November 1970Giuseppe Saragat1 January 1980
Giuseppe SaragatPresident 29 December 1971ex officio11 June 1988
Amintore FanfaniPrime Minister 10 March 1972Giovanni Leone20 November 1999
Leo ValianiHistorian, politician and journalist12 January 1980Sandro Pertini18 September 1999
Eduardo De FilippoActor28 September 1981Sandro Pertini31 October 1984
Camilla RaveraPolitician8 January 1982Sandro Pertini14 April 1988
Carlo BoPoet18 July 1984Sandro Pertini21 July 2001
Norberto BobbioPhilosopher18 July 1984Sandro Pertini9 January 2004
Sandro PertiniPresident 29 June 1985ex officio24 February 1990
Giovanni SpadoliniPrime Minister 2 May 1991Francesco Cossiga4 August 1994
Giovanni AgnelliIndustrialist1 June 1991Francesco Cossiga24 January 2003
Giulio AndreottiPrime Minister 1 June 1991Francesco Cossiga6 May 2013
Francesco De MartinoPolitician1 June 1991Francesco Cossiga18 November 2002
Paolo Emilio TavianiPolitician1 June 1991Francesco Cossiga18 June 2001
Francesco CossigaPrime Minister ; President 28 April 1992ex officio17 August 2010
Oscar Luigi ScalfaroPresident 16 May 1999ex officio29 January 2012
Rita Levi-MontalciniNeurobiologist1 August 2001Carlo Azeglio Ciampi30 December 2012
Emilio ColomboPrime Minister 14 January 2003Carlo Azeglio Ciampi24 June 2013
Mario LuziPoet14 October 2004Carlo Azeglio Ciampi28 February 2005
Giorgio NapolitanoPolitician23 September 2005Carlo Azeglio Ciampi15 May 2006
Giorgio NapolitanoPresident 14 January 2015ex officio22 September 2023
Sergio PininfarinaDesigner23 September 2005Carlo Azeglio Ciampi3 July 2012
Carlo Azeglio CiampiEconomist and politician; Prime Minister ; President 16 May 2006ex officio16 September 2016
Mario MontiEconomist and politician; Prime Minister 9 November 2011Giorgio Napolitanocurrently serving
Claudio AbbadoConductor30 August 2013Giorgio Napolitano20 January 2014
Elena CattaneoPharmacologist30 August 2013Giorgio Napolitanocurrently serving
Renzo PianoArchitect30 August 2013Giorgio Napolitanocurrently serving
Carlo RubbiaPhysicist30 August 2013Giorgio Napolitanocurrently serving
Liliana SegreHolocaust survivor and activist19 January 2018Sergio Mattarellacurrently serving