She's dead this morning in Rome, at the age of 78, Emma Bonino. The announcement was made by Più Europa, the party she helped found. A historic figure in the radical movement, an Italian and European parliamentarian, an EU commissioner, and a minister, she spanned half a century of politics, bringing to institutions the battles for women's self-determination, international justice, and a federal Europe. Bonino was admitted to the Santo Spirito Hospital in Rome on September 7th. Yesterday, September 10th, she left intensive care and was transferred to a private facility, by agreement between her doctor and the hospital staff. Her condition remained delicate.
In January 2015 he announced on Radio Radicale that he had a lung cancer, choosing to publicly discuss her illness without giving up her political activity. In 2023, she announced that she had recovered after eight years of treatment. In the following years, breathing problems had made further hospitalizations necessary.
From Bra to the institutions, politics alongside Pannella
Born in Bra, in the province of Cuneo, on March 9, 1948, Bonino grew up in a family that had moved from the countryside to the city, where her father had started a business in the timber trade. After high school, she moved to Milan, graduating in 1972 in Foreign Languages and Literatures from Bocconi with a thesis on the autobiography of Malcolm X.entry into the Radical Party, in 1975, marked the beginning of a path intended to intertwine with that of Marco PannellaA political and human partnership that lasted decades, made up of joint campaigns, hunger strikes and civil disobedience, but also of contrasts and a painful distance in the last years of the radical leader's life. 1976 Bonino was elected to the Chamber for the first time, at the age of 28. Her arrival at Montecitorio, dressed far from the Palace's usual attire, also became a visible sign of a politics that challenged formality and convention. In the years that followed, she would serve as a Member of the European Parliament, a Senator, and a Vice President of the Senate.
Between 1995 and 1999 held the position of European Commissioner, with expertise in fisheries, consumers and humanitarian aid. In 2006 it entered the second Prodi government as Minister of International Trade and European Policies. In 2013 Enrico Letta entrusted her with the Farnesina, which he led until February 2014.
Public notoriety was accompanied by a clear protection of one's privacy“The personal is political, the private is not public,” was the answer with which he drew the line. He never married and had no children., but in the 1970s she fostered two girls, Aurora and Rugiada. Her secularism did not prevent her from building a relationship of respect with Pope Francis, who visited her in her Roman home in 2024 after she was hospitalized.
From abortion to Afghan women, battles beyond borders
La fight against clandestine abortion It also arose from personal experience. Bonino was among the founders of the Information Center on Sterilization and Abortion and even reported herself for procured abortion, turning the risk of prison into a tool for mobilization. She was one of the protagonists of the campaigns that contributed to pave the way for Law 194.
The season of battles over divorce and abortion was followed by those over legalization of cannabis, migrants' rights, and freedom of choice at the end of life. Self-determination and the defense of individual freedoms remained the guiding thread of her commitment, along with her critique of judicialism and the protection of the rule of law. As a European Commissioner, she brought these themes to war zones and humanitarian emergencies. She visited Bosnia, the African Great Lakes region, Somalia, and Sudan. In 1997, during a mission in Afghanistan, she was arrested and held for several hours by the Taliban along with her delegation. Upon her return, she promoted the campaign for the women of Kabul, denouncing discrimination and obstacles to accessing aid.
With the organization There is no peace without justice supported the construction of international criminal justice and the fight against female genital mutilation. She advocated for the tribunals for crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia, for the International Criminal Court, and for a moratorium on capital punishment. The fight against world hunger had already shaped her work since the 1980s.
Europe was the other great project of his political life.. In 2017 he contributed to the birth of More Europe, returned to the Senate in 2018 and became party president in July 2024. Even in recent election campaigns, he continued to support the goal of a United States of Europe, a democratic and federal union capable of overcoming national divisions.
The controversies, alliances and choices that divided
His path also crossed controversies and contested decisionsHer collaboration with different political groups attracted accusations of opportunism. In 1994, she was elected with the support of the center-right and the first Berlusconi government appointed her as European Commissioner, while she subsequently participated in the Rose in the Fist experience and in the Prodi and Letta governments. A trajectory that claimed theradical autonomy, but which fueled tensions over the relationship between civil wars and alliances.
On the international level, the support for the military intervention in Kosovo This caused a rift with a segment of the pacifist and nonviolent movement. Bonino argued that, faced with crimes against humanity, upholding the law could also require the use of force. She also engaged in a heated debate with Pino Arlacchi over the United Nations' anti-drug programs in Afghanistan, challenging their cooperation with the Taliban regime.
In his past there was also the campaign against the President of the Republic John LeoneIn 1998, together with Pannella, she addressed a letter of apology to Bonino for the attacks of twenty years earlier. As Foreign Minister, she had to deal with the controversy surrounding the expulsion to Kazakhstan of Alma Shalabayeva, wife of opposition leader Mukhtar Ablyazov, and her daughter. Having rejected calls for her resignation from some media outlets, the Farnesina continued its diplomatic work. Shalabayeva was later granted a Schengen visa and, upon returning to Italy, also thanked Bonino.
There was no shortage electoral defeats and internal rupturesIn 2021, he announced his withdrawal from Più Europa, only to rejoin a few months later. In 2022, he failed to return to the Senate, and in 2024, the United States of Europe list fell short of the threshold required to enter the European Parliament.
The pain of Più Europa and the condolences of Meloni
"Emma has left us but she will never leave usWith these words, Più Europa announced the passing of its leader, remembering her commitment against authoritarianism, discrimination, and the denial of freedom. The party identified the perseverance of her battles as the legacy to be upheld, even after defeats. "There are no words to describe the pain and emptiness we feel today. From tomorrow, we will try to find the right words to transform the gratitude we feel for having been able to fight alongside her into the courage to continue fighting as she taught us. Thank you, Emma, from the bottom of my heart," the statement read. "She leaves a void and a great deal of pain. Thanks to her, there have been numerous victories for freedom," commented the secretary. Riccardo Magi, speaking on Sky Tg24.
Condolences also came from the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who recognized Bonino's role despite the distance between their respective positions: "Emma Bonino represented a strong and recognizable voice in Italian politics for decades, pursuing her ideas with determination," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote in a message of condolence for the death of the historic Radical leader. "Our histories and our sensitivities," the Prime Minister added, "have been distant, but this has never prevented me from recognizing her weight and role in the public life of our nation. My condolences go to her family and loved ones."
