Giorgio Napolitano, former Italian president and 1st ex-Communist in that post, has died at 98
By FRANCES D’EMILIO
Associated Press
ROME (AP) — Italy’s presidential palace says Giorgio Napolitano, the first former Communist to rise to Italy’s presidency, has died. Napolitano, who also is the first person to be elected twice to the presidency, was 98. A statement issued Friday night by the Quirinal presidential palace confirmed Italian news reports of the death of Napolitano, who had been ailing in a Rome hospital for weeks. The current president, Sergio Mattarella, hailed his predecessor as head of state, saying in a statement that Napolitano’s life “mirrored a large part of the history” of Italy in the second half of the 20th century.