Aldo Moro

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Aldo Moro : biography

September 23, 1916 – May 9, 1978

Aldo Moro ( September 23, 1916 – May 9, 1978) was an Italian politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Italy, from 1963 to 1968, and then from 1974 to 1976. He was one of Italy’s longest-serving post-war Prime Ministers, holding power for a combined total of more than six years.

A leader of Democrazia Cristiana (Christian Democracy, DC), Moro was considered an intellectual and a patient mediator, especially in the internal life of his party. He was kidnapped on March 16, 1978, by the Red Brigades (BR), a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization, and killed after 55 days of captivity.

Early career

Moro was born in Maglie, in the province of Lecce (Apulia), into a family from Ugento. At 4, he moved with his family to Milan, but they soon moved back to Apulia, where he gained a classical high school degree at Archita lyceum in Taranto. Till 1939 he studied Law at the University of Bari, an institution where he was later to hold the post of ordinary professor of philosophy of Law and Colonial Policy (1941) and of Criminal Law (1942).

In 1935, he entered the Catholic university students’ association (Federazione Universitaria Cattolica Italiana, FUCI) of Bari. In 1939, under approval of Giovanni Battista Montini of whom he had befriended, Moro was chosen as president of the association; he kept the post till 1942, succeeded by Giulio Andreotti. During his university years Italy was under the Fascist government, and he took part in students competitions (Littoriali della cultura e dell’arte) organised by local fascist students’ organisation (Gioventù Universitaria Fascista, GUF).Renato Moro, Aldo Moro negli anni della FUCI, Studium 2008; Tiziano Torresi L’altra giovinezza. Gli universitari cattolici dal 1935 al 1940, Cittadella editrice 2010 He then founded the periodical La Rassegna, published in 1943–1945.

In 1945 he married Eleonora Chiavarelli (1915–2010), with whom he had four children: Maria Fida (born 1946), Agnese (1952), Anna and Giovanni (1958).

After teaching Law for twenty years in Bari, in 1963 Moro considered the possibility to move to the Sapienza University of Rome, as professor of Criminal Law and Procedure.

Kidnapping and death

Kidnapping

On March 16, 1978, on Via Fani, a street in Rome, a unit of the militant Communist organisation known as the Red Brigades () blocked the two-car convoy transporting Moro and kidnapped him, murdering his five bodyguards. At the time, all of the founding members of the Red Brigades were in jail; the organisation led by Mario Moretti that kidnapped Moro, therefore, is said to be the "Second Red Brigades".

On the day of his kidnapping, Moro was on his way to a session of the House of Representatives, where a discussion was to take place regarding a vote of confidence for a new government led by Giulio Andreotti (DC) that would have, for the first time, the support of the Communist Party. It was to be the first implementation of Moro’s strategic political vision as defined by the Compromesso storico (historic compromise).

In the following days, trade unions called for a general strike, while security forces made hundreds of raids in Rome, Milan, Turin and other cities searching for Moro’s location. Held for two months, he was allowed to send letters to his family and politicians. The government refused to negotiate, despite demands by family, friends and Pope Paul VI., "On This Day", BBC In fact, Paul VI "offered himself in exchange … for Aldo Moro …"Holmes, J. Derek, and Bernard W. Bickers. A Short History of the Catholic Church. London: Burns and Oates, 1983. 291.

During the investigation of Moro’s kidnapping, General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa reportedly responded to a member of the security services who suggested torturing a suspected brigatista, "Italy can survive the loss of Aldo Moro. It would not survive the introduction of torture."Report of Conadep (National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons): Prologue – 1984Quoted in Dershowitz, Alan M. Why Terrorism Works, p.134, ISBN 978-0-300-10153-9 The Red Brigades initiated a secret trial where Moro was found guilty and sentenced to death. Then they sent demands to the Italian authorities, stating that unless 16 Red Guard prisoners were released, Moro would be killed. The Italian authorities responded with a large-scale manhunt.100 Years of Terror, documentary by History Channel