Achille Occhetto

Achille Leone Occhetto (Italian pronunciation: [aˈkille okˈketto] ^ⓘ; born 3 March 1936) is an Italian politician. He served as the last secretary-general of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) between 1988 and 1991, and was the first leader of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS), the parliamentary socialist successor of the PCI, from 1991 to 1994.

Achille Leone Occhetto
General Secretary of the Italian Communist Party
In office 21 June 1988 – 3 January 1991
Preceded by	Alessandro Natta
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Secretary of the Democratic Party of the Left
In office 8 February 1991 – 14 June 1994
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Massimo D'Alema
Member of the Senate of the Republic
In office 30 May 2001 – 27 April 2006
Constituency	Calabria
Member of the European Parliament
In office 8 May 2006 – 28 March 2007
Constituency	Southern Italy
In office 25 July 1989 – 11 October 1998
Constituency	North-West Italy
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 5 July 1976 – 29 May 2001
Constituency	Palermo (1976–1992) Rome (1992–1994) Bologna (1994–2001)
Personal details
Born	(1936-03-03) 3 March 1936 (age 89) Turin, Italy
Political party	SI (since 2017)
Other political affiliations	PCI (1953–1991) PDS (1991–1998) DS (1998–2007) SD (2007–2009) SEL (2009–2017)
Spouses	Ines Ravelli ​ (sep. 1968)​ Elisa Kadigia Bove ​ (divorced)​ Aureliana Alberici ​ (divorced)​
Children	2

Early life and career

Occhetto was born in Turin. He served as secretary of the Italian Communist Youth Federation, to which he had belonged starting from 1953, from 1963 to 1966. Subsequently, he was the regional secretary of the PCI in Sicily, where he distinguished himself for his war against any kind of mafia.

In 1986, Occhetto was appointed as national coordinator of the PCI and became its secretary in 1988, succeeding Alessandro Natta. Under his leadership, the party witnessed the collapse of both the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union. He responded by declaring the Communist state experience over, and persuaded the PCI to dissolve and refound itself as a democratic socialist party, the PDS. This political shift, known in Italian politics as the Svolta della Bolognina (the name derives from the celebration of a partisan battle in World War II), during which he announced that the PCI would change its name, logo, and orientation, was accepted by approximately 70% of the members at the 20th National Congress held on 8 February 1991.

In 1994, Occhetto challenged and was defeated by Silvio Berlusconi in the 1994 Italian general election, leading the Alliance of Progressives; because of this loss, he resigned as party secretary. He returned to politics in the 2004 European Parliament election in Italy, being elected to the European Parliament on a joint ticket with anti-corruption campaigner Antonio Di Pietro; he immediately resigned and was replaced by Giulietto Chiesa. After the 2006 Italian general election, he returned to the European Parliament by taking up one of the seats vacated by an elected deputy, and sat as an Independent member of the Party of European Socialists group. In 2009, he joined the new left-wing formation Left Ecology Freedom. He is an atheist.^[1]

Personal life

Occhetto was married to the activist and former actress Elisa Kadigia Bove, with whom he had two sons, Malcolm and Massimiliano (both born in Sicily); he was later married to fellow party member Aureliana Alberici.^[2]

Electoral history

Election	House	Constituency	Party		Votes	Result
1976	Chamber of Deputies	Palermo–Trapani–Agrigento–Caltanissetta		PCI	67,134	Y Elected
1979	Chamber of Deputies	Palermo–Trapani–Agrigento–Caltanissetta		PCI	45,563	Y Elected
1983	Chamber of Deputies	Palermo–Trapani–Agrigento–Caltanissetta		PCI	51,144	Y Elected
1987	Chamber of Deputies	Palermo–Trapani–Agrigento–Caltanissetta		PCI	76,368	Y Elected
1989	European Parliament	North-West Italy		PCI	533,077	Y Elected
1992	Chamber of Deputies	Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone		PDS	143,905	Y Elected
1994	Chamber of Deputies	Bologna – Borgo Panigale		PDS	52,997	Y Elected
1994	European Parliament	North-West Italy		PDS	378,088	Y Elected
1996	Chamber of Deputies	Bologna – Borgo Panigale		PDS	58,632	Y Elected
2001	Senate of the Republic	Calabria – Cosenza		DS	49,596	Y Elected
2004	European Parliament	North-West Italy		IdV	13,857	N Not elected

First-past-the-post elections

1994 general election (C): Bologna – Borgo Panigale
Candidate		Coalition or Party	Votes	%
	Achille Occhetto	Progressives (PDS)	52,997	59.8
	Pier Ferdinando Casini	Pole of Freedoms (CCD)	17,925	20.2
	Anselmo Ruocco	National Alliance	7,388	8.3
	Maria Gualandi	Pact for Italy (PPI)	7,133	8.0
	Oliviero Toscani	Pannella List	3,225	3.6
Total			88,668	100.0
Turnout			91,571	95.0

1996 general election (C): Bologna – Borgo Panigale
Candidate		Coalition or Party	Votes	%
	Achille Occhetto	The Olive Tree (PDS)	58,632	69.9
	Gian Luca Galletti	Pole for Freedoms (CCD)	25,293	30.1
Total			83,925	100.0
Turnout			88,380	93.2