List of presidents of Italy facts for kids

• Top left: Enrico De Nicola was the first president of the Italian Republic.
• Top right: Antonio Segni was the first president to resign from office.
• Bottom left: Giorgio Napolitano was the first president to be re-elected.
• Bottom right: Sergio Mattarella is the current president of the Italian Republic and the longest-serving president in Italian history.

The president of Italy (Italian: Presidente della Repubblica) is the head of state the Italian Republic. Since 1948, there have been 12 presidents of Italy.

The official residence of the president is the Quirinal Palace in Rome. Among the Italian presidents, three came from Campania (all from Naples), three from Piedmont, two each from Sardinia (both from Sassari) and from Tuscany, one from Liguria, and one from Sicily. No woman has ever held the office.

Election

The president of the Republic is elected by Parliament in a joint session of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. In addition, the 20 regions of Italy appoint 58 representatives as special electors. Three representatives come from each region, save for the small Aosta Valley which appoints one, so as to guarantee representation for all localities and minorities.

According to the Constitution, the election must be held in the form of secret ballot, with the 315 senators, the 630 deputies and the 58 regional representatives all voting. A two-thirds vote is required to elect on any of the first three rounds of balloting and after that a majority suffices. The election is presided over by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, who calls for the public counting of the votes. The vote is held in the Palazzo Montecitorio, home of the Chamber of Deputies, which is expanded and re-configured for the event.

The president assumes office after having taken an oath before Parliament and delivering a presidential address. Presidents are elected to serve a seven-year term. Giorgio Napolitano is the first president to be elected to a second term in 2013, followed by Sergio Mattarella in 2022.

Presidents of the Italian Republic (1948–present)

PLI           DC           PSDI           PSI           DS           Independent
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office		Party		Election	Ref.
		Took office	Left office
	Enrico De Nicola (1877–1959)	1 January 1948	12 May 1948		Italian Liberal Party	1947
		132 days
	Luigi Einaudi (1874–1961)	12 May 1948	11 May 1955		Italian Liberal Party	1948
		6 years, 364 days
	Giovanni Gronchi (1887–1978)	11 May 1955	11 May 1962		Christian Democracy	1955
		7 years, 0 days
	Antonio Segni (1891–1972)	11 May 1962	6 December 1964		Christian Democracy	1962
		2 years, 209 days
	Giuseppe Saragat (1898–1988)	29 December 1964	29 December 1971		Italian Democratic Socialist Party	1964
		7 years, 0 days
	Giovanni Leone (1908–2001)	29 December 1971	15 June 1978		Christian Democracy	1971
		6 years, 168 days
	Sandro Pertini (1896–1990)	9 July 1978	29 June 1985		Italian Socialist Party	1978
		6 years, 355 days
	Francesco Cossiga (1928–2010)	3 July 1985	28 April 1992		Christian Democracy	1985
		6 years, 300 days
	Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (1918–2012)	28 May 1992	15 May 1999		Christian Democracy	1992
		6 years, 352 days
	Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (1920–2016)	18 May 1999	15 May 2006		Independent	1999
		6 years, 362 days
	Giorgio Napolitano (1925–2023)	15 May 2006	14 January 2015		Democrats of the Left / Independent	2006 2013
		8 years, 244 days
	Sergio Mattarella (born 1941)	3 February 2015	Incumbent		Independent	2015 2022
		9 years, 304 days

Timeline

Substitute of the head of state

The Acting President of the Republic (Italian: Presidente supplente della Repubblica) is an office not explicitly provided for in the Italian Constitution, but deriving from the provision contained in the article 86. On various occasions, officials had to intercede in the absence of a head of state (notably in the case of a president's resignation or ill health). Only Enrico De Nicola, who was elected to be provisional head of state by the Constitutional Assembly on 28 June 1946, had an official title and took residence in the Quirinal Palace. The others took the powers, but not the title of Head of State. After the adoption of the Italian Constitution in 1948, the president of the Senate is eligible to take the powers of head of state in case of absence of the President of the Republic.

DC           PLI           PRI           PPI           PD           Independent
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office		Party		Election	Ref.
		Took office	Left office
	Alcide De Gasperi (1881–1954)	13 June 1946	1 July 1946		Christian Democracy	—
		18 days
	Enrico De Nicola (1877–1959)	1 July 1946	31 December 1947		Italian Liberal Party	1946 1947
		1 year, 183 days
	Cesare Merzagora (1898–1991)	6 December 1964	29 December 1964		Independent	—
		23 days
	Amintore Fanfani (1908–1999)	15 June 1978	9 July 1978		Christian Democracy	—
		24 days
	Francesco Cossiga (1928–2010)	29 June 1985	3 July 1985		Christian Democracy	—
		4 days
	Giovanni Spadolini (1925–1994)	28 April 1992	28 May 1992		Italian Republican Party	—
		30 days
	Nicola Mancino (born 1931)	15 May 1999	18 May 1999		Italian People's Party	—
		3 days
	Pietro Grasso (born 1944)	14 January 2015	3 February 2015		Democratic Party	—
		20 days

See also

• Lists of office-holders
• King of Italy, for previous Italian heads of state between 1861 and 1946
• List of presidents of Italy by time in office
• List of prime ministers of Italy
• Politics of Italy
• Prime Minister of Italy