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Achille Occhetto

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Achille Leone Occhetto
General Secretary of the
Italian Communist Party
In office
21 June 1988 – 3 January 1991
Preceded byAlessandro Natta
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Secretary of the
Democratic Party of the Left
In office
8 February 1991 – 14 June 1994
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byMassimo D'Alema
Member of the Senate of the Republic
In office
30 May 2001 – 27 April 2006
ConstituencyCalabria
Member of the European Parliament
In office
8 May 2006 – 28 March 2007
ConstituencySouthern Italy
In office
25 July 1989 – 11 October 1998
ConstituencyNorth-West Italy
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
5 July 1976 – 29 May 2001
ConstituencyPalermo (1976–1992)
Rome (1992–1994)
Bologna (1994–2001)
Personal details
Born (1936-03-03) 3 March 1936 (age 88)
Turin, Italy
Political partySI (since 2017)
Other political
affiliations
PCI (1953–1991)
PDS (1991–1998)
DS (1998–2007)
SD (2007–2009)
SEL (2009–2017)
Spouses
Ines Ravelli
(sep. 1968)
(divorced)
(divorced)
Children2

Achille Leone Occhetto (Italian pronunciation: [aˈkille okˈketto] ; born 3 March 1936) is an Italian political figure. He served as the last secretary-general of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) between 1988 and 1991, and was the first leader of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS), the parliamentary socialist successor of the PCI, from 1991 to 1994.

Early life and career

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Occhetto was born in Turin. He served as secretary of the Italian Communist Youth Federation, to which he had belonged starting from 1953, from 1963 to 1966. Subsequently, he was the regional secretary of the PCI in Sicily, where he distinguished himself for his war against any kind of mafia.

In 1986, Occhetto was appointed as national coordinator of the PCI and became its secretary in 1988, succeeding Alessandro Natta. Under his leadership, the party witnessed the collapse of both the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union. He responded by declaring the Communist state experience over, and persuaded the PCI to dissolve and refound itself as a democratic socialist party, the PDS. This political shift, known in Italian politics as the Svolta della Bolognina (the name derives from the celebration of a partisan battle in World War II), during which he announced that the PCI would change its name, logo, and orientation, was accepted by approximately 70% of the members at the 20th National Congress held on 8 February 1991.

In 1994, Occhetto challenged and was defeated by Silvio Berlusconi in the 1994 Italian general election, leading the Alliance of Progressives; because of this loss, he resigned as party secretary. He returned to politics in the 2004 European Parliament election in Italy, being elected to the European Parliament on a joint ticket with anti-corruption campaigner Antonio Di Pietro; he immediately resigned and was replaced by Giulietto Chiesa. After the 2006 Italian general election, he returned to the European Parliament by taking up one of the seats vacated by an elected deputy, and sat as an Independent member of the Party of European Socialists group. In 2009, he joined the new left-wing formation Left Ecology Freedom. He is an atheist.[1]

Personal life

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Occhetto was married to the activist and former actress Elisa Kadigia Bove, with whom he had two sons, Malcolm and Massimiliano (both born in Sicily); he was later married to fellow party member Aureliana Alberici.[2]

Electoral history

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Election House Constituency Party Votes Result
1976 Chamber of Deputies Palermo–Trapani–Agrigento–Caltanissetta PCI 67,134 checkY Elected
1979 Chamber of Deputies Palermo–Trapani–Agrigento–Caltanissetta PCI 45,563 checkY Elected
1983 Chamber of Deputies Palermo–Trapani–Agrigento–Caltanissetta PCI 51,144 checkY Elected
1987 Chamber of Deputies Palermo–Trapani–Agrigento–Caltanissetta PCI 76,368 checkY Elected
1989 European Parliament North-West Italy PCI 533,077 checkY Elected
1992 Chamber of Deputies Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone PDS 143,905 checkY Elected
1994 Chamber of Deputies Bologna – Borgo Panigale PDS 52,997 checkY Elected
1994 European Parliament North-West Italy PDS 378,088 checkY Elected
1996 Chamber of Deputies Bologna – Borgo Panigale PDS 58,632 checkY Elected
2001 Senate of the Republic CalabriaCosenza DS 49,596 checkY Elected
2004 European Parliament North-West Italy IdV 13,857 ☒N Not elected

First-past-the-post elections

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1994 general election (C): Bologna – Borgo Panigale
Candidate Coalition or Party Votes %
Achille Occhetto Progressives (PDS) 52,997 59.8
Pier Ferdinando Casini Pole of Freedoms (CCD) 17,925 20.2
Anselmo Ruocco National Alliance 7,388 8.3
Maria Gualandi Pact for Italy (PPI) 7,133 8.0
Oliviero Toscani Pannella List 3,225 3.6
Total 88,668 100.0
Turnout 91,571 95.0
1996 general election (C): Bologna – Borgo Panigale
Candidate Coalition or Party Votes %
Achille Occhetto The Olive Tree (PDS) 58,632 69.9
Gian Luca Galletti Pole for Freedoms (CCD) 25,293 30.1
Total 83,925 100.0
Turnout 88,380 93.2

References

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  1. ^ Maria Latella, "Occhetto: pecca chi vota i vecchi DC", Il Corriere della Sera, 28 January 1994, p. 2.
  2. ^ Biography|Achille Occhetto Archived 2014-08-12 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian)
[edit]
Party political offices
Preceded by General Secretary of the
Italian Communist Party

1988–1991
Succeeded by
Position abolished
Preceded by
Position established
Secretary of the
Democratic Party of the Left

1991–1994
Succeeded by