Giulio Andreotti

Giulio Andreotti OMI SMOM OCSG OESSH was the 41st Prime Minister of Italy and leader of the Christian Democracy party. Beginning as a protg of Alcide De Gasperi, Andreotti achieved cabinet rank at a young age and occupied all the major offices of state over the course of a fortyyear political career, being seen as a reassuring figure by the civil service, business community, and Vatican. In foreign policy, he guided Italys European Union integration, and established closer relations with the Arab world. Admirers of Andreotti saw him as having mediated political and social contradictions, enabling the transformation of a substantially rural country into the fifthbiggest economy in the world. Critics said he had done nothing against a system of patronage that had led to pervasive corruption.

Giulio Andreotti, the youngest of three children, was born onJanuary 1919 in Rome, his father was a primary school teacher from Segni, a small town in Lazio, who died when Giulio was two. He showed some ferocity as a youth, once stubbing out a lit taper in the eye of another altar boy who was ridiculing him. His mother was described as not very affectionate, an aunt is said to have advised him to remember that few things in life are important, and never to overdramatise difficulties. As an adult he was described as having a somewhat unusual demeanor for an Italian politician, being mild mannered and unassuming. Andreotti did not use his influence to advance his children to prominence, despite being widely considered the most powerful person in the country for decades. See all, tolerate much, and correct one thing at a time was a quote that emphasised what has been called his art of the possible view of politics. He was known for his discretion and retentive memory, and also a sense

Source: Wikipedia