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Francesco De Martino
Francesco De Martino
Deputy Prime Minister of Italy
	In office; 6 August 1970 – 15 January 1972
Prime Minister	Emilio Colombo
Preceded by	Paolo Emilio Taviani
Succeeded by	Mario Tanassi
	In office; 12 December 1968 – 5 July 1969
Prime Minister	Mariano Rumor
Preceded by	Pietro Nenni
Succeeded by	Paolo Emilio Taviani
Member of the Senate of the Republic
	Life tenure; 1 June 1991 – 18 November 2002
Appointed by	Francesco Cossiga
	In office; 12 July 1983 – 1 July 1987
Constituency	Campania
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
	In office; 8 May 1948 – 11 July 1983
Constituency	Naples
Personal details
Born	31 May 1907; Naples, Campania, Italy
Died	18 November 2002 (aged 95); Naples, Campania, Italy
Political party	Pd'A (1943–1946); PSI (1946–1994); DS (1998–2002)
Children	Guido De Martino

Francesco de Martino (31 May 1907 – 18 November 2002) was an Italian jurist, politician, lifetime senator (1991–2002) and former Vice President of the Council of Ministers. He was considered by many to be the conscience of the Italian Socialist Party.^[1]

Biography

De Martino was born on 31 May 1907 in Naples, Italy.^[2] He graduated from the law school Federico II in Naples, and, under the guidance of Enrico De Nicola, embarked on the study of law and economics and became a distinguished scholar of Roman law.^[3]^[4]

Emeritus Professor of law at the law school Federico II in Naples, he published several tomes, among which, the History of the Roman Constitution (in six tomes, which was compared for his monumental significance to the "Staatsrecht" by Theodor Mommsen) and the Economic History of Ancient Rome; his publications were translated in English, Spanish, German, French and Chinese.

He first joined the Action Party (an anti-fascist political party) in 1943, and then joined the reconstituted Socialist party in 1945.

At the first elections of the new Italian Republic in 1948, he was elected to Parliament with the Popular Front alliance of communists and socialists.^[2]^[5] He soon won the confidence of party leader Pietro Nenni, to whom he became vice secretary. In 1959 Nenni would entrust De Mortino with leading the socialist magazine Mondoperaio.^[6]

De Martino served as Deputy Prime Minister during the Rumor I, Rumor III, and Colombo governments.^[7]

De Martino was for two times the PSI's candidate to the presidential elections, in 1971 and 1978. This time, however, the more popular socialist, the former Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Sandro Pertini was elected. De Martino candidacy was tarnished when the family paid a 1bn lire ransom for his release his son Guido who was kidnapped by the Camorra for 40 days.^[8] The kidnappers were eventually captured, but those behind them were never discovered.^[1]

In 1976, he was ousted as party secretary by Bettino Craxi when the PSI lost in the elections falling below 10% for the second time. De Martino became the scapegoat, and Craxi became Italy's first socialist Prime Minister in 1983.

Nonetheless, he continued to be elected to the Parliament, and, on 1 June 1991 was appointed senator for life.^[3]^[5] After this appointment he joined the post-communist Democrats of the Left.^[8] He was dismayed by the demise of the historical socialist party after the corruption under Craxi.

He resumed his academic career at the law school Federico II, where his secular funeral was celebrated in the presence of the President of Italy, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.

De Martino died in Naples on 18 November 2002.^[3] He is survived by his children, Armando, Guido, Antonino, Elisa and Laura.

Electoral history

Election	House	Constituency		Votes	Result
1948	Chamber of Deputies	Naples–Caserta	FDP	20,452	Y Elected
1953	Chamber of Deputies	Naples–Caserta	PSI	42,108	Y Elected
1958	Chamber of Deputies	Naples–Caserta	PSI	43,295	Y Elected
1963	Chamber of Deputies	Naples–Caserta	PSI	59,965	Y Elected
1968	Chamber of Deputies	Naples–Caserta	PSI	61,431	Y Elected
1972	Chamber of Deputies	Naples–Caserta	PSI	66,296	Y Elected
1976	Chamber of Deputies	Naples–Caserta	PSI	69,244	Y Elected
1979	Chamber of Deputies	Naples–Caserta	PSI	83,634	Y Elected
1983	Senate of the Republic	Campania – Naples III	PSI	11,243	Y Elected