Aldo Moro
September 23, 1916 – May 9, 1978
Italian Christian Democrat who was twice Prime Minister of Italy. The Red Brigades kidnapped and killed him in 1978.
Biography
Aldo Moro was born on 23 September 1916 in Maglie, Apulia. He studied law at the University of Bari, graduating in 1939, and went on to teach the philosophy of law and criminal law there. Active in Catholic student politics, he led the Italian Catholic university federation from 1939 to 1942 and helped draft the Code of Camaldoli, an economic programme that shaped later Christian Democratic policy.
Elected to the Constituent Assembly in 1946 and to the Chamber of Deputies in 1948, Moro served as a junior foreign minister and then as Minister of Justice and Minister of Public Education in the 1950s. As secretary of Christian Democracy from 1959 to 1964 he steered the party towards an opening to the left.
He was prime minister from December 1963 to June 1968, leading the first centre-left governments with the Socialists, and again from November 1974 to July 1976. In between he served twice as foreign minister. In the 1970s he pursued an accommodation with the Communist Party under Enrico Berlinguer, known as the Historic Compromise.
On 16 March 1978 Moro was kidnapped in Rome by the Red Brigades, who killed his escort. After 55 days in captivity he was murdered, and his body was found on 9 May 1978.
Offices held
Giovanni Leone Succeeded by
Giulio Andreotti
5 terms
- Dec 4, 1963 – Jul 22, 1964 Preceded by Giovanni Leone
- Jul 22, 1964 – Feb 23, 1966
- Feb 23, 1966 – Jun 24, 1968 Succeeded by Giovanni Leone
- Nov 23, 1974 – Feb 12, 1976 Preceded by Mariano Rumor
- Feb 12, 1976 – Jul 29, 1976 Succeeded by Giulio Andreotti
Affiliations
Education
- Jan 1, 1934 – Jan 1, 1939 University of Bari Law degree 1939
Employment
- from Jan 1, 1941 University of Bari Professor of philosophy of law and colonial policy (1941), then criminal law (1942)
- from Jan 1, 1963 Sapienza University of Rome Professor of law institutions and criminal procedure
