Gaetano Martino

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Gaetano Martino

| image = Gaetano Martino.jpg

| office = President of the European Parliament

| order = 4th

| term_start = 27 March 1962

| term_end = 21 March 1964

| predecessor = Hans Furler

| successor = Jean Duvieusart

| office1 = Minister of Foreign Affairs

| primeminister1 = Mario Scelba
Antonio Segni

| term_start1 = 19 September 1954

| term_end1 = 6 May 1957

| predecessor1 = Attilio Piccioni

| successor1 = Giuseppe Pella

| office2 = Minister of Public Education

| primeminister2 = Mario Scelba

| term_start2 = 10 February 1954

| term_end2 = 19 September 1954

| predecessor2 = Egidio Tosato

| successor2 = Giuseppe Ermini

| office3 = Member of the Chamber of Deputies

| term_start3 = 8 May 1948

| term_end3 = 21 July 1967

| constituency3 = Catania

| office4 = Member of the Constituent Assembly

| term_start4 = 25 June 1946

| term_end4 = 31 January 1948

| constituency4 = Catania

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1900|11|25|df=y}}

| birth_place = Messina, Kingdom of Italy

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1967|7|21|1900|11|25|df=y}}

| death_place = Rome, Italy

| nationality = Italian

| party = Liberal

| spouse = Alberta Stagno d'Alcontres

| children = 3 sons, including Antonio

| alma_mater = Sapienza University of Rome

| profession = Physician, teacher

}}

Gaetano Martino (25 November 1900 – 21 July 1967) was an Italian politician, physician, and university teacher.

Early life and medicine

Gaetano Martino was born in 1900 in Messina, Sicily, son of its Mayor Antonino Martino. He graduated in medicine from the Sapienza University of Rome in 1923. He worked as physician for Saint-Antoine Hospital in Paris.{{Cite book|author1=Marcello Saija|author2=Angela Villani|title=Gaetano Martino 1900-1967|publisher=Rubbettino|date=2011|page= pag. 30}} In 1934, he became a teacher at the University of Messina and later was also dean of the University from 1943 to 1954. From 1966 to 1967, Martino was also dean of the Sapienza University of Rome.

Political career

=Foreign minister=

File:Lange martino pearson.jpg (r), and Lester B. Pearson (l), in 1956]]

Martino was a prominent Liberal politician. He was elected in 1948 to the Chamber of Deputies, becoming briefly Minister of Public Education in 1954, under Christian Democrat Mario Scelba. In late 1954, Martino became Minister of Foreign Affairs after the replacement of Attilio Piccioni, involved in the Montesi Affair. He maintained his Ministry also during the Antonio Segni's Cabinet (1954-1957), but was finally removed from office by new Prime Minister Adone Zoli.{{Cite web|url=http://legislature.camera.it/chiosco.asp?cp=1&position=II%20Legislatura%20/%20I%20Deputati&content=deputati/legislatureprecedenti/Leg02/framedeputato.asp?Deputato=1d13430|title = La Camera dei Deputati}}

As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Martino promoted a better European integration and internationalism, first with the Messina Conference in 1955.

In 1956, he obtained the Italian acceptance to the United Nations. In the same year Martino, along with Halvard Lange from Norway and Lester Pearson from Canada, became a "sage" of the NATO, promoting its involvement in civil areas.{{cite web| url = http://www.nato.int/docu/review/2006/issue1/italian/history.html| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060805055538/http://www.nato.int/docu/review/2006/issue1/italian/history.html| archive-date = 2006-08-05| title = Nato Review}}

Martino also attended the Treaty of Rome in 1957, establishing the European Economic Community.

=Armoire's affair=

File:Gaetano Martino 1954 b.jpg

In 1956, the newspaper La Repubblica published an article where Martino said that investigations on the German war crimes in Italy during World War II would have a negative impact on the Germany's integration in Europe, like an internal disapprove of the NATO. In 1994, with discovery in a military base of an armoire with secret documents on Nazi war crimes in Italy, nickname "Armoire of Shame" ("Armadio della Vergogna"), emerged that Martino blocked the investigations to avoid German isolation during Cold War.{{cite news|title=Parla il boia di Sant'Anna "Così uccidevamo gli italiani"|url=http://www.repubblica.it/online/cronaca/santanna/santanna/santanna.html|author=Christiane Kohl|newspaper=La Repubblica|date=29 October 1999}}

Later life

For his role in the European integration, Martino was elected President of the European Parliament in 1962. He also continued to serve as Deputy in the Italian Chamber until his death in July 1967.

Electoral history

class=wikitable style="width:65%; border:1px #AAAAFF solid"
width=12%\|Election ! width=30%\|House ! width=45%\|Constituency ! width=5% colspan="2"\|Party ! width=12%\|Votes ! width=12%\|Result
1946 \| Constituent Assembly \| Catania–Messina–Ragusa–Enna \| bgcolor="{{party color\|Italian Liberal Party}}" \| \| UDN \| 30,332 \| {{nowrap\|{{tick\|15}} Elected}}
1948 \| Chamber of Deputies \| Catania–Messina–Ragusa–Enna \| bgcolor="{{party color\|Italian Liberal Party}}" \| \| BN \| 28,464 \| {{tick\|15}} Elected
1953 \| Chamber of Deputies \| Catania–Messina–Ragusa–Enna \| bgcolor="{{party color\|Italian Liberal Party}}" \| \| PLI \| 40,671 \| {{tick\|15}} Elected
1958 \| Chamber of Deputies \| Catania–Messina–Ragusa–Enna \| bgcolor="{{party color\|Italian Liberal Party}}" \| \| PLI \| 55,475 \| {{tick\|15}} Elected
1963 \| Chamber of Deputies \| Catania–Messina–Ragusa–Enna \| bgcolor="{{party color\|Italian Liberal Party}}" \| \| PLI \| 61,627 \| {{tick\|15}} Elected

class=wikitable style="width:65%; border:1px #AAAAFF solid"

width=12%|Election

! width=30%|House

! width=45%|Constituency

! width=5% colspan="2"|Party

! width=12%|Votes

! width=12%|Result

1946

| Constituent Assembly

| Catania–Messina–Ragusa–Enna

| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Liberal Party}}" |

| UDN