Amintore Fanfani; Former Italian Leader, U.N. Official

Amintore Fanfani, a six-time Italian premier and a former head of the U.N. General Assembly, died Saturday at his home here. He was 91.

Fanfani had returned home Saturday morning after a month’s hospitalization for treatment of heart and breathing problems brought on by the flu.

Tributes came quickly from Italian leaders, all echoing the phrase used by the president of Italy’s Chamber of Deputies, Luciano Violante: “It is the end of a grand personality in the history of the republic.”

Twice leader of the Christian Democrats, holder of a succession of ministries and a senator for life, Fanfani maintained a high profile in Italian politics for half a century.

Born Feb. 8, 1908, in Tuscany, Fanfani received a degree in economics from the Catholic University of Milan. He taught there from 1936 to 1955 and at the University of Rome from 1955 to 1983, earning one of his many nicknames in politics--”The Professor.”

His political life started at the end of World War II. In 1946, Alcide De Gaspari invited him to Rome to become involved with the nascent Christian Democrats, whose party would lead Italy until the 1990s.

In De Gaspari’s government, Fanfani began to make his name in the post of labor minister when he pushed through laws for workers’ housing. In the early 1950s, he served as agriculture minister, interior minister and foreign minister.

In 1954, Fanfani became head of the government for the first time, only to resign 12 days later after a no-confidence vote in parliament. Later terms in office saw more success, notably in foreign affairs.

His appointment as president of the U.N. General Assembly in 1965 added to his international standing.

Between 1965 and 1968, he worked to improve relations between East and West, proposing that Mao Tse-Tung’s China be admitted into the United Nations and meeting with a delegation from Hanoi to push the Vietnam peace effort.

A keen painter and writer, Fanfani had a number of works published on politics, religion and art.

Fanfani had seven children with his first wife, Bianca Rosa Provaroli, who died in 1968.

In 1975, he married Maria Pia Tavazzani, who survives him.