Carlo Donat-Cattin

Carlo Donat-Cattin (26 June 1919 – 17 March 1991) was an Italian politician and trade unionist. A member of Christian Democracy, he was several times minister of the Italian Republic. He was leader of the internal left current of the DC Forza Nuove (New Forces).[1]

Carlo Donat-Cattin
Minister of Labour and Social Security
In office
5 August 1969 – 26 June 1972
Prime MinisterMariano Rumor
Emilio Colombo
Giulio Andreotti
Preceded byGiacomo Brodolini
Succeeded byDionigi Coppo
In office
22 July 1989 – 17 March 1991
Prime MinisterGiulio Andreotti
Preceded byRino Formica
Succeeded byRosa Russo Iervolino
Minister of Industry, Trade and Crafts
In office
23 November 1974 – 25 November 1978
Prime MinisterAldo Moro
Giulio Andreotti
Preceded byCiriaco De Mita
Succeeded byRomano Prodi
Minister of Health
In office
1 August 1986 – 22 July 1989
Prime MinisterBettino Craxi
Amintore Fanfani
Giovanni Goria
Ciriaco De Mita
Preceded byCostante Degan
Succeeded byFrancesco De Lorenzo
Member of the Senate
In office
19 June 1979 – 17 March 1991
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
12 June 1958 – 19 June 1979
Personal details
Born(1919-06-26)26 June 1919
Finale Ligure, Italy
Died17 March 1991(1991-03-17) (aged 71)
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Political partyChristian Democracy
OccupationJournalist, trade unionist, politician

Biography

Donat-Cattin was born at Finale Ligure. His father was from Turin, where Donat-Cattin moved at a young age. During World War II he fought with the "White faction" (Christian-Democrat) of the Italian resistance movement.

In 1950 he took part in the foundation of the Italian Confederation of Workers' Trade Unions (Italian: Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori, abbreviated as CISL). In the meantime he entered Christian Democracy (Italian Democrazia Cristiana, shortly DC), for which he was communal counsellor in Turin and, from 1953, provincial counsellor at the province of Turin.

Donat-Cattin was elected for the first time to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1958, a position he held until 1979, when he was elected to the Italian Senate. He was minister several times, first as Minister of Welfare and Health (Rumor II, III, Colombo and Andreotti I Cabinets (1969–1972), then as Minister of Mezzogiorno (Rumor IV, 1973) and, from 1974 to 1978, Minister of Industry and Trade in four consecutive governments (Moro IV and V, Andreotti III and IV). Belonging to the left wing of the party, in 1978 he became vice-secretary of DC. Donat-Cattin was initially in favour of dialogue towards DC's historical rival, the Italian Communist Party (Italian: Partito Comunista Italiano, or PCI), but after 1979 he became a supporter of the preambolo theory, which aimed to exclude PCI from any state charge. In 1980, however, after his son Marco was discovered to be a member of the far-left terrorist formation Prima Linea,[2] he abandoned any public position and left politics for a while.

In 1986 he was chosen as Minister of Health in the second Bettino Craxi-led government. At the time, he became a firm advocate of collaboration between DC and Craxi's party, the Italian Socialist Party. In 1989 he was Minister of Welfare in the Andreotti VI government.

He died at Montecarlo in 1991.[3]

References
  1. "Forze Nuove", la sinistra sociale che metteva a soqquadro la Dc
  2. 7 maggio 1980: "La procura di Roma accusa Marco Donat Cattin dell'omicidio Berardi"
  3. 'MUORE UN UOMO SCOMODO'
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