Emma Bonino, a prominent Italian civil rights campaigner and influential political figure, died on Friday in Rome at the age of 78. The announcement was made by Più Europa, a progressive party she founded in 2017. Bonino had been hospitalized earlier this week for a respiratory condition, according to Italy’s ANSA news agency.
Over a political career spanning five decades, Bonino played a significant role in advancing liberal causes in Italy, notably on issues such as abortion rights, assisted dying, gender equality, and humanitarian aid. She served multiple terms as a lawmaker in both the Italian Parliament and the European Parliament. She held several ministerial roles, including a brief tenure as Italy’s foreign minister, and also directed the European Union’s humanitarian aid program.
Born on March 9, 1948, in Bra, northern Italy, into a farming family, Bonino initially found rural life uninspiring and moved to Milan to pursue a university degree in foreign languages. Her personal experience with abortion in 1974, when it was illegal in Italy, sparked her activism. She accompanied other women seeking abortions—a criminal offense at the time—and even turned herself in to authorities for this act of civil disobedience.
Bonino first entered national politics in 1976 as a member of the Radical Party, a libertarian and feminist group characterized by anticlerical and socially progressive stances. She was known for her outspoken style and unconventional approaches, including once attending Parliament in clogs. Her advocacy contributed to the 1978 law legalizing abortion in Italy, despite strong opposition from the Vatican, though she and her party considered the law insufficient and worked to prevent its rollback in subsequent years.
Throughout her career, Bonino championed a broad range of causes: promoting renewable energy, legalizing soft drugs, advocating for euthanasia rights, opposing the death penalty and female genital mutilation, and supporting more lenient immigration policies. She maintained a determined and often defiant approach, undertaking hunger strikes and engaging in international activism such as being arrested during New York City protests in the 1980s to promote clean needle programs for drug users.
Though often aligned with left-leaning movements, Bonino rejected conventional political labels, describing herself as a “radical liberal.” She maintained working relationships across the political spectrum, including with former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who appointed her to a senior European Union role, and reportedly developed a friendship with Pope Francis despite her anticlerical stance.
Bonino was elected to the Italian Parliament eight times and served as vice president of the Senate. Yet, despite her popularity with the public and high personal approval ratings, she was never elected to the Italian presidency, a post for which she had openly campaigned.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella praised her as “a protagonist in the movements and reforms that shaped the course of our society,” while Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni acknowledged Bonino’s influence despite their political differences.
Emma Bonino never married and had no children. She is survived by two siblings. Her legacy stands as a testament to her persistent efforts to reshape Italy’s political landscape and expand civil liberties.