Gronchi, Giovanni

▪ president of Italy

born Sept. 10, 1887, Pontedera, Italy

died Oct. 17, 1978, Rome

      Christian Democrat politician who served as president of Italy from 1955 to 1962.

      Gronchi graduated from the University of Pisa and, after World War I, helped found the Popular Party, a Catholic party. Elected a deputy (1919), he was undersecretary of industry and commerce when he became a leader in the Aventine secession (1924), which opposed the Fascist leader Benito Mussolini and formed an opposition rump parliament. When this body was suppressed, Gronchi retired from political life.

      After World War II he was again a deputy and served as minister of commerce and industry in four cabinets (1944–46). Later he was elected to the Constitutional Assembly (1946) and to the Chamber of Deputies (1948), of which he became the speaker.

      In the presidency, primarily a figurehead position, he was much-criticized for interfering in diplomacy as well as domestic affairs. He made many state visits, including a trip to the Soviet Union (1960), which he visited in spite of church opposition.

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