Italy. Honoured Statesman Giovanni Spadolini Remembered on New Silver Coins

2025 marks the centenary anniversary of the birth of Giovanni Spadolini (1925 – 1994) an Italian politician and statesman, who served as the 44th prime minister of Italy. A highly respected intellectual for his literary works and his cultural dimension, he was a leading figure in the country’s Republican Party and the first head of a government to not be a member of the centrist Christian Democrats since 1945.

Born into an upper middle-class family in the city of Florence, his father Guido was a painter of considerable talent who also owned a large library in which the young Giovanni studied and began to form his affinity for history and culture. As a youngster, he was a diligent student who excelled in many of his subjects. By the age of nineteen, he published his first article entitled Italia e Civiltà (Italy and Civilisation) which was critical of the excesses of fascism. After the war, as Spadolini became a moderate liberal conservative politically, he decided to study law at the University of Florence and shortly after graduation he was appointed Professor of Contemporary History in the Faculty of Political Science.

It was at this time that Spadolini became a political columnist for several newspapers and was appointed the editor-in-chief of the Bologna paper Il Resto del Carlino in 1955. During his tenure, the paper’s circulation doubled. In 1968, Spadolini moved to Milan where he took over the editorship of Italy's largest newspaper, Corriere della Sera, a position he held until 1972. That same year, he entered politics and was elected as a senator where he was appointed as minister of the environment and then minister of education. In 1979, he was appointed secretary of the small but powerful Italian Republican Party - PRI.

In 1981, his name was unexpectedly put forth to head a new government following the dissolution of the government of Arnaldo Forlani. Spadolini was confirmed as Prime Minister by President Sandro Pertini on the 28th June. Spadolini met with other world leaders during the G 7 Summit in Ottawa, Canada representing Italy and maintained a moderate policy of being a non-interventionist in terms of foreign relations. In early 1982, Spadolini was forced to form a new cabinet due to lack of support from coalition partners which was essentially identical to the former, but in November he resigned when more coalition parties finally withdrew support. Spadolini was succeeded by the former Prime Minister Amintore Fanfani on the 1st December. Spadolini remained as Secretary of the Republican party and, under his leadership, the PRI obtained 5% of all votes for the first time in the 1983 Italian general election. In 1987, Spadolini was appointed as President of the Italian Senate which he remained in this post until 1994. It was during this time that Spadolini was also appointed as Acting President of Italy on the 28th April 1992 upon the resignation of then President Francesco Cossiga, a position he held for one month. With the election of Silvio Berlusconi, Spadolini lost the chairmanship of the Senate by a single vote. In July 1994 and less than three months from his loss of the presidency of the Senate, Spadolini underwent abdominal surgery and died of respiratory failure in Rome in August 1994 at the age of 69.

Designed by Valerio DeSilk, the obverse side of the coin depicts Prime Minister Giovanni Spadolini in a near front-facing pose. The informal photo was taken on the 15th July 1985 by Santi Visalli, an American photojournalist who covered politics entertainment while Spadolini was visiting in New York City. Around the image along the rim is the text REPUBBLICA ITALIANA with the year of issue, 2025 and the R mintmark denoting the Mint of Rome placed just to the left of the portrait. The reverse side features a view of the Chamber of the Senate which is centred. Above and along the rim is the inscription 1925 GIOVANNI SPADOLINI 2025. Below the primary design is the denomination 5 EURO.

Available from the 17^th June, the BU quality coins are encapsulated and presented in a heavy-gauge card case with magnetic closure, the specifications of the coin are printed on the back cover. For additional information, please visit the e-webshop of the IPZS.