Franca Pilla
{{Short description|Wife of Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (born 1920)}}
{{upscaled images|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Franca Pilla
| image = Franca Pilla Ciampi in 2001 (cropped).jpg
| alt =
| caption = Pilla in 2001
| office = Companion of the President of Italy
| status =
| president = Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
| term_label = In role
| term_start = 18 May 1999
| term_end = 15 May 2006
| predecessor = Marianna Scalfaro
| successor = Clio Maria Bittoni
| office1 = Spouse of the Prime Minister of Italy
| primeminister1 = Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
| term_label1 = In role
| term_start1 = 29 April 1993
| term_end1 = 11 May 1994
| predecessor1 = Diana Vincenzi
| successor1 = Veronica Lario
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1920|12|19|df=y}}
| birth_place = Reggio Emilia, Kingdom of Italy
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Italian
| alma_mater =
| party =
| otherparty =
| residence = Rome, Lazio, Italy
| spouse = {{marriage|Carlo Azeglio Ciampi|1946|16 September 2016|reason=d}}
| children = 2
| occupation =
| profession =
| mother =
| father =
| signature =
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| website =
}}
Franca Pilla (or Franca Ciampi; born 19 December 1920) is the former first lady of Italy, when Carlo Azeglio Ciampi was president of Italy from 1999 to 2006.
Biography
Pilla was born in Reggio Emilia on 19 December 1920.{{Cite web|author=Redazione Politica|date=2020-12-19|title=I 100 anni di Franca Ciampi, la first lady che conquistò l'Italia|url=https://www.corriere.it/politica/20_dicembre_19/franca-ciampi-100-anni-first-lady-che-conquisto-l-italia-la-sincerita-e914fa28-41ec-11eb-a986-08f3985f4b5a.shtml|access-date=2021-06-18|website=Corriere della Sera|language=it}} She was in education when she was eighteen and there she met her future husband who was of the same age. They met at a "dancing tea" which was a respectable way to meet. The tea was organised by mothers, and boys and girls would be allowed to practise dancing with each other.{{Cite web|title=la Repubblica/politica: Franca Ciampi racconta 'Ottant'anni di felicita''|url=https://www.repubblica.it/online/politica/ottanta/ottanta/ottanta.html|access-date=2021-06-18|website=www.repubblica.it}}
After the war when her boyfriend had been a soldier and then a resistance fighter, they had a year's engagement and then they married in Bologna when she was 25. They spent over seventy years together. During that time her husband was prime minister, he led Italy's central bank and he was Minister of Finance. In 1999, he became Italy's president until 2006 when he became a senator for life.{{Cite news |last=Emsden |first=Christopher |date=2016-09-16 |title=Italy's Former President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Dies Aged 95 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/italys-former-president-carlo-azeglio-ciampi-dies-aged-95-1474023277 |access-date=2021-06-18 |work=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}
Pilla was sometimes less than diplomatic. During a tour of Naples, in the south of Italy, she was quoted as saying that the Italians in the south were better and more intelligent. She was known for her openness, giving the pope advice when they met. She encouraged people to read and to ignore the TV.
Pilla and Ciampi were married until his death on 16 September 2016.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons}}
{{wikiquote lang|it|Franca Pilla}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-other|Unofficial roles}}
{{s-bef|before=Marianna Scalfaro
{{Small|Acting}}|as=}}
{{s-ttl|title=Companion of the President of Italy|years=1999–2006}}
{{s-aft|after=Clio Maria Bittoni}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilla, Franca}}
Category:20th-century Italian educators
Category:20th-century Italian women
Category:21st-century Italian women
Category:Italian women centenarians
Category:People from Reggio Emilia