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| In praise of … Giorgio Napolitano | In praise of … Giorgio Napolitano |
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| Italy's president should have spent last week on a well-earned break after stepping down, aged 87. Instead, Giorgio Napolitano answered the call of duty by reluctantly agreeing to serve a second term and appointing a left-right coalition under Enrico Letta. It is quite a turnaround for a man who spent so long as a leader of a communist party which the CIA and the Italian political system were committed to marginalising. But Mr Napolitano has always been one of Europe's big political figures – he took time out from the crisis in Rome to record a tribute for London's Eric Hobsbawm memorial event last week – and it is not just his own country but Europe that is now in his debt for his statesmanship. Addressing fierce words to Italy's squabbling parties last week, Mr Napolitano sounded more than ever like the "King Giorgio" he is sometimes depicted as being – not least because of his courtly manners and resemblance to Italy's last king, Umberto II. | Italy's president should have spent last week on a well-earned break after stepping down, aged 87. Instead, Giorgio Napolitano answered the call of duty by reluctantly agreeing to serve a second term and appointing a left-right coalition under Enrico Letta. It is quite a turnaround for a man who spent so long as a leader of a communist party which the CIA and the Italian political system were committed to marginalising. But Mr Napolitano has always been one of Europe's big political figures – he took time out from the crisis in Rome to record a tribute for London's Eric Hobsbawm memorial event last week – and it is not just his own country but Europe that is now in his debt for his statesmanship. Addressing fierce words to Italy's squabbling parties last week, Mr Napolitano sounded more than ever like the "King Giorgio" he is sometimes depicted as being – not least because of his courtly manners and resemblance to Italy's last king, Umberto II. |
| • This article was amended on Monday 29 April 2013 to correct the standfirst, which had become garbled during the editing process. |