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Antonio Martino

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Antonio Martino
Antonio Martino at The Pentagon in July 2005
Minister of Defence
In office
11 June 2001 – 17 May 2006
Prime MinisterSilvio Berlusconi
Preceded bySergio Mattarella
Succeeded byArturo Parisi
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
10 May 1994 – 17 January 1995
Prime MinisterSilvio Berlusconi
Preceded byLeopoldo Elia
Succeeded bySusanna Agnelli
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
15 April 1994 – 22 March 2018
ConstituencySicily
Personal details
Born(1942-12-22)22 December 1942
Messina, Kingdom of Italy
Died5 March 2022(2022-03-05) (aged 79)
Rome, Italy
Political partyPLI (1968–1994)
FI (1994–2009)
PdL (2009–2013)
FI (2013–2022)
SpouseCarol Erickson
Parent
Alma materUniversity of Messina
University of Chicago
ProfessionTeacher, economist

Antonio Martino (22 December 1942 – 5 March 2022) was an Italian politician. A founding member of Forza Italia, he served as the minister of foreign affairs in 1994 and minister of defense from 2001 to 2006.

Life and career

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Born in Messina, he was the son of Gaetano Martino (1900–1967), the Foreign Minister of Italy from 1954 to 1957 and prominent member of the Italian Liberal Party (PLI).[1]

Martino earned a J.D. in Jurisprudence from the University of Messina Law School in 1964, then went on to the University of Chicago for postgraduate studies in Economics from 1966 to 1968, where he was a student of Milton Friedman.[1] After graduation he started his career as visiting professor at the Rome Center of Loyola University Chicago.[1] After becoming a professor in 1976 Martino worked at the University of Messina, University of Bari, University of Naples and Sapienza University of Rome.[1]

A member of the Italian Parliament, he was first elected in 1994 and then re-elected in 1996 and 2001.[1] He ran for PLI secretary in the mid-1980s but was unsuccessful.[2]

From 1992, Martino was a professor of economics in the political science department at the LUISS University of Rome.[1][3] Since 1978 he was the Adjunct Scholar at The Heritage Foundation and an editorial board member of the Cato Journal from 1990.[1] He wrote 11 books and over 150 papers and articles in the fields of economic theory and policy.[1] He was a regular contributor to a variety of Italian and foreign periodicals and newspapers as well as Italian and international television and radio programmes.[2] He worked as an editorial writer for a number of Italian newspapers (La Stampa, Il Sole 24 Ore, Mondo economico, L'Opinione, Il Giornale, Quotidiano Nazionale Nazione-Giorno-Carlino), and his bi-line has appeared in international publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Times, Le Figaro, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, The American Spectator, Economic Affairs, and others.[1]

In 1988–1990, Martino was President of the Mont Pelerin Society.[4] During the 1990s, he wrote a book in Italian, Stato Padrone, in which he set out his free-market ideas.[2]

He was one of the founders of Forza Italia.[5][1] He was the minister of Foreign Affairs in the first cabinet of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (1994–95) and the minister of Defense when Berlusconi returned to power (2001–2006).[2]

In 2004 he was the main promoter for the suspending compulsory military service, already formally decided in 2001, but which was to begin in 2007: consequently the suspension came into effect indefinitely on 1 January 2005 (Martino Law), and furthermore granted exemption to all those who had in the past obtained postponements of service on grounds such as study.[citation needed] Additionally, he backed the a speedier transformation of the armed forces into a body of professional volunteers.[citation needed]

Martino was also the Secretary of the Italy-USA Foundation's Scientific Committee.[2] In 2005, he was awarded the Medal for Distinguished Public Service by the United States Department of Defense.[1]

Martino was married and had two daughters.[1] He died in Rome on 5 March 2022, at the age of 79.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Senator Antonio Martino". Atlantic Partnership. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Martino tapped FI president candidate". ANSA. 21 January 2015. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Farewell to former minister Antonio Martino, he was 79 years old". The Observational. 5 March 2022. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  4. ^ "Past Presidents | MPS". Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Morto l'ex ministro e fondatore di Forza Italia Antonio Martino". HuffPost Italia (in Italian). 5 March 2022. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.

Further reading

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  • A. Martino, Stato Padrone, Sperling&Kupfer, Milan 1997. [ISBN missing]
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Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Affairs
1994–1995
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Defence
2001–2006
Succeeded by