Achille Occhetto

Achille Occhetto Deputy
General Secretary of the Italian Communist Party
In office 10 June 1988 – 3 January 1991
Preceded by	Alessandro Natta
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Secretary of the Democratic Party of the Left
In office 8 February 1991 – 14 June 1994
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Massimo D'Alema
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 5 July 1976 – 29 May 2001
Constituency	Piedmont
Member of the Senate of the Republic
In office 30 May 2001 – 27 April 2006
Personal details
Born	March 3, 1936 Turin, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	SEL (Since 2009)
Other political affiliations	PCI (1953-1991) PDS (1991–1998) DS (1998–2007) SD (2007–2009)
Spouse(s)	Elisa Kadigia Bove

Achille Occhetto (Italian pronunciation: [aˈkille okˈketto]; born 3 March 1936), is an Italian political figure. He served as the last secretary-general of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) between 1988 and 1991, and the first leader of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS), the democratic socialist successor of the PCI, from 1991 to 1994.

Biography

Occhetto was born in Turin. He is married to the activist and former actress Elisa Kadigia Bove. They have two sons, Malcolm and Massimiliano, both of whom were born in Sicily.^[1]

He served as secretary of the Italian Communist Youth Federation (to which he had belonged starting from 1953) from 1963 to 1966 and, subsequently, as regional secretary of the Italian Communist Party in Sicily, distinguishing himself for his war against any kind of mafia.

He was appointed in 1986 as national coordinator of the PCI and became its secretary in 1988, succeeding Alessandro Natta. Under his leadership, the party witnessed the collapse of both the Berlin wall and the communist regime in the Soviet Union. He responded by declaring the communist experience over, and dissolved the PCI in order to form a new leftist party, the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS).

This political shift (known in Italian politics as the Svolta della Bolognina^[2]) was accepted by approximately 70% of the members at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party (8 February 1991).

In 1994, he challenged and was defeated by Silvio Berlusconi in the 1994 election, leading the Alliance of Progressives; because of this loss he resigned as party secretary.

He returned to politics in the 2004 European elections, being elected to the European Parliament on a joint ticket with anti-corruption campaigner Antonio Di Pietro, but he immediately resigned and was replaced by Giulietto Chiesa. After the 2006 General election, he returned to the European Parliament by taking up one of the seats vacated by an elected Deputy, and sits as an Independent member of the Party of European Socialists group.

In 2009, he joined the new left-wing formation Left Ecology Freedom.

He is an atheist.^[3]

References

1. Biography|Achille Occhetto (in Italian)
2. The name derives from the celebration of a partisan battle in World War II, during which he announced that the Communist Party could change name.
3. Maria Latella, "Occhetto: pecca chi vota i vecchi DC", Il Corriere della Sera, 28 January 1994, p. 2.

External links

• A declaration about "Il Cantiere", a new political project