Altiero Spinelli
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The Honourable Altiero Spinelli |
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| Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship | |
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In office 1 July 1970 – 4 July 1976 |
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| President |
Franco Maria Malfatti, Sicco Mansholt |
| Preceded by | Guido Colonna di Paliano |
| Succeeded by | Étienne Davignon |
| Member of the Italian Chamber | |
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In office 5 July 1976 – 10 July 1983 |
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| Constituency | Rome |
| Member of the European Parliament for Central Italy |
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In office 10 June 1979 – 23 May 1986 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
31 August 1907 Rome, Kingdom of Italy |
| Died | 23 May 1986 (aged 78) Rome, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Political party |
Communist Party of Italy (1924–1937) Action Party (1943–1946) Republican Democratic Concentration (1946) Independent Left (1976–1983) |
| Spouse(s) | Ursula Hirschmann (m. 1945–86); his death |
| Children | Barbara |
| Alma mater | Sapienza University of Rome |
| Profession | Writer |
Altiero Spinelli (31 August 1907 – 23 May 1986) was an Italian Communist politician, political theorist and European federalist. Spinelli is referred to as one of the founding fathers of the European Union due to his co-authorship of the Ventotene Manifesto, his founding role in the European federalist movement, his strong influence on the first few decades of post-World War II European integration and, later, his role in re-launching the integration process in the 1980s. By the time of his death, he had been a member of the European Commission for six years, a member of the European Parliament for ten years right up until his death. The main building of the European Parliament in Brussels is named after him. The 1987–1988 academic year at the College of Europe and the 2009–2010 academic year of the European College of Parma were named in his honour.
Spinelli was born in Rome, and joined the Italian Communist Party (PCI) at an early age in order to oppose the regime of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party. Following his entry into radical journalism, he was arrested in 1927 and spent ten years in prison and a further six in confinement. During the war he was interned on the island of Ventotene (in the Gulf of Gaeta) along with some eight hundred other political opponents of the regime. During those years, he broke with the Italian Communist Party over Stalin's purges (resulting in him being ostracised by many of the other prisoners), but refused to compromise with the fascist regime, despite offers of early release.
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