The former minister Antonio Martino died last night . He was 79 years old. An economist, he had been Foreign Minister of the first Berlusconi government (1994-1995) and Minister of Defense in the second and third executive headed by the leader of Forza Italia (2001-2006). He was a deputy for six legislatures, from 1994 to 2018. Political career
Born in Messina and son of Gaetano Martino, one of the fathers of the European Union, Antonio Martino was a lecturer in history and monetary policy and dean of the political science faculty of Luiss Free UniversityFrom Rome. You joined Forza Italia in 1994: Silvio Berlusconi often said that the economist had the number two card of the party. He had taken his first steps in politics with the liberals: in December ’88 he had been a minority candidate for the secretariat of the Pli. A deputy from 1994 to 2018, in Chicago he had been a student of the Nobel Prize in Economics Milton Friedman, the leading exponent of the economic theory of monetarism, who had a huge influence on him.
Martino called himself ” simply liberal“and he believed that the failure of statist policies was due not only to technical and economic reasons, but also to ethical and philosophical reasons. His differences, due to his liberal position, with the former economy minister Giulio Tremonti are memorable: several times Martino accused him, even in interventions at Montecitorio, of having illiberal and anti-market positions.
(Ansa / archive)
Silvio Berlusconi together with Antonio Martino
Moved the participation of Silvio Berlusconiwho wrote in a note: “A dear friend, an illustrious scholar, a free man is leaving. With him I shared the idea of ​​the birth of Forza Italia, of which he had the number two card. He was one of the most appreciated Ministers of our governments, to Foreign Affairs and to the Defense, highly esteemed in all international contexts and especially in the United States, where he was trained and where he was at home. With his thoughts – continues the leader of Forza Italia – I orient and characterize the program of our party since 1994. I will miss the exquisite manners, the cultured quotations, the cutting irony, the discretion. The one with which he chose to step aside from an active politics that basically he had never loved, which he understood as a civil duty and morals, in the service of freedom. In this too we were profoundly similar “.
The Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, reads a note, “expresses his deepest condolences for the death of Professor Antonio Martino. A profound connoisseur of liberal thought, he has brought his values ​​and his vision of the world to the center of his life Italian intellectual, political and institutional. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense, he made an unceasing effort to strengthen Italy’s transatlantic ties and to anticipate the abolition of military service. To his loved ones my condolences and those of the Government “.
Condolences also from other political forces. Among the first messages that of Antonio Tajani , coordinator of Forza Italia, and that of Enrico Letta secretary of the Democratic Party. On Twitter also the memory of the European commissioner for the economyPaolo Gentiloni : “I remember Antonio Martino. Politician and parliamentarian. Man of culture and spirit. Authentic example of a liberal right”.
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