David Sassoli, President of the European Parliament, dies

Ο President of the European Parliament, the Italian social democrat David Sassoli, died overnight from Monday to Tuesday in his hometown at the age of 65, his spokesperson announced. «David Sassoli died on January 11 at 1:15 a.m. at the Aviano Oncology Treatment Center, in Italy, »where he had been hospitalized" since late December, announced Roberto Cuillo, spokesperson for the President of the European Parliament, on Twitter.

«Information regarding the date and location of his funeral will be provided in the coming hours,» he added.

Yesterday, Monday, the spokesperson for the President of the European Parliament announced that David Sassoli had been admitted to the hospital «due to a serious complication resulting from a malfunction of his immune system» and that his official engagements had been canceled.

David Sassoli, who had previously undergone treatment for leukemia, had already been hospitalized in the fall due to pneumonia, which forced him to be absent from the European Parliament for several weeks. The term of the former journalist and television host in Italy, who had served as President of the European Parliament since 2019, was set to end this month, halfway through the five-year parliamentary term.

From RAI's main news program to the presidency of the European Parliament

David Sassoli, who died in the early hours of this morning at the age of 65, had served as President of the European Parliament since 2019, a position that came as a surprise to many, given that the former journalist had entered politics ten years earlier as a member of Italy’s center-left.

The longtime television host, Mr.He assumed the presidency of the European Parliament following negotiations among the major political forces and governments over the presidencies of the three main European institutions. The European People's Party (right) secured the European Commission presidency for Ursula von der Leyen, the European Council presidency was secured by the Liberals with Charles Michel, and the European Parliament presidency by the Socialists with David Sassoli.

Respect

His nationality, his party—the second component of the Social Democratic group—and his deep knowledge of the institution, having already served as vice president, transformed him, at the last minute, into the right man at the right time.

His tenure, which lasted two and a half years, was overshadowed by the health crisis. However, the attention he paid to his teams—which he made sure worked remotely—the way he organized things, with a remote voting system, as well as the fact that was able to resist French pressure to have European elected officials return to Strasbourg, resulted in the institution being treated with great respect.

As a gesture of solidarity amid the pandemic, it made available the abandoned offices of the European Parliament, both in Strasbourg and in Brussels, made available to organizations that were preparing meals for families in need, while it gave the green light for exam centers for the new coronavirus.

Although it exceeded the leukemia Because of the illness he suffered from, his health was his Achilles' heel. A chain smoker and bon vivant, had been admitted to the hospital in serious condition in September, due to pneumonia which forced him to set aside his duties in the European Parliament for several weeks.

On December 26, he was readmitted to the hospital, «due to a serious complication resulting from a malfunction of his immune system», according to his spokesperson.

Born on May 30, 1956, in Tuscany, David Sassoli chose a career in journalism after completing his studies in political science. He began working with newspapers and news agencies before, in 1992, joining RAI, Italy’s public radio and television broadcaster, where he became the lead anchor of its first channel.

He decided to enter politics in 2009, when the former mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, organized the merger of two parties—one from the center-left and one from the left—a plan that David Sassoli strongly supported, leading to the creation of the Democratic Party (PD).

A candidate in the European elections, he was elected on the PD ticket with 400,000 votes, a success that definitively took him away from the small screen and marked the beginning of his political career in the European Parliament.

Failure in Rome

As head of the PD’s team within the institution, he attempted to enter the national political arena, by participating in the party’s internal process to select its candidate for mayor of Rome in 2013—but saw himself defeated by Iñacio Marino, who later became mayor.

After the venture failed, the father of two devoted himself to the European Parliament. He was re-elected in 2014 and became its vice president, responsible for its budget and Euro-Mediterranean policy.

It claimed credit for the «greatest railway reform in the European Union»—the Sassoli-Dijksma legislative act— which «was adopted in 2017 following three years of complex negotiations» to open up national markets to competition in passenger transport.

He said he would never «completely give up his career as a journalist»: He was still contributing to newspapers and magazines and wrote articles frequently.

He co-signed it in 2013 with Francesco Saverio Romano a book about the cabinet meetings during the kidnapping of Aldo Moro in the spring of 1978.

«Nothing is possible without people; nothing lasts without institutions.», he had told his colleagues before his election, quoting a phrase by Jean Monnet, one of the founders of the EU.