{{Short description|President of Italy in 1948}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Enrico De Nicola | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|ITA|OMRI|size=100%}} | image = Enrico De Nicola (cropped).jpg | caption = Official portrait, 1948 | office = President of Italy | prime_minister = Alcide De Gasperi | term_start = 1 January | term_end = 12 May 1948 | predecessor = ''Position established''<br/>(Umberto II as King) | successor = Luigi Einaudi | order1 = Provisional Head of State of Italy | term_start1 = 28 June 1946 | term_end1 = 1 January 1948 | prime_minister1 = Alcide De Gasperi | predecessor1 = Alcide De Gasperi | successor1 = Position abolished | order3 = President of the Constitutional Court | term_start3 = 23 January 1956 | term_end3 = 26 March 1957 | predecessor3 = Position established | successor3 = Gaetano Azzariti | order4 = President of the Senate of the Republic | term_start4 = 28 April 1951 | term_end4 = 24 June 1952 | predecessor4 = Ivanoe Bonomi | successor4 = Giuseppe Paratore | order5 = President of the Chamber of Deputies | term_start5 = 26 June 1920 | term_end5 = 25 January 1924 | predecessor5 = Vittorio Emanuele Orlando | successor5 = Alfredo Rocco {{Collapsed infobox section begin|last=yes|Parliamentary offices |titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes |office6 = Member of the Senate of the Republic |term_label6 = Life tenure |term_start6 = 12 May 1948 |term_end6 = 1 October 1959 |status6 = ''Ex officio'' |office7 = Member of the Senate of the Kingdom |term_start7 = 2 March 1939 |term_end7 = 3 August 1943 |appointer7 = Victor Emmanuel III |office8 = Member of the Chamber of Deputies |term_start8 = 24 March 1909 |term_end8 = 25 January 1924 |constituency8 = Afragola (1909–1919)<br>Naples (1919–1924){{collapsed infobox section end}} }} | birth_date = {{birth date|1877|11|9|df=y}} | birth_place = Naples, Campania, Kingdom of Italy | death_date = {{death date and age|1959|10|1|1877|11|9|df=y}} | death_place = Torre del Greco, Campania, Italy | alma_mater = University of Naples Federico II | profession = Lawyer | party = Italian Liberal Party | signature = Enrico De Nicola signature.svg }}
'''Enrico De Nicola''' ({{IPA|it|enˈriːko de niˈkɔːla|lang|It-Enrico de Nicola.ogg}}; 9 November 1877 – 1 October 1959)<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6HKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA436 |title=Heads of States and Governments Since 1945 |editor-last=Lentz |editor-first=Harris M. |date=4 February 2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134264902 |pages=436 }}</ref> was an Italian jurist, journalist, politician, and statesman who served as the first president of Italy in 1948 and provisional head of state of republican Italy from 1946 to 1948.<ref>{{cite book |title=Italy: a primary source cultural guide |first=Lesli J. |last=Favor |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |year=2004 |ISBN=0-8239-3839-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/italyprimarysour0000favo/page/36 36] |url=https://archive.org/details/italyprimarysour0000favo/page/36 }}</ref>
==Biography== Enrico De Nicola was born in Naples and became famous as a penal lawyer. He studied law at the University of Naples, graduating in 1896.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldpresidentsdb.com/Enrico-De-Nicola/|title=Enrico De Nicola - Italian President|website=World Presidents Database}}</ref> As a Liberal, he was elected a deputy for the first time in 1909 and, from 1913 to 1921, he filled minor governmental posts until the advent of fascism, when he retired from political life. He served as Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies in the Giolitti government (November 1913 — March 1914) and Under-Secretary of State for the Treasury in the Orlando cabinet (January–June 1919). On 26 June 1920, he was elected speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, holding office until January 1924. He was appointed senator by King Victor Emmanuel III in 1929, but he refused to take his seat and never took part in the workings of the Assembly.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://videos.orange.es/video/iLyROoaftLOt.html |first=S. M. |last=Sergio |title=Elogio dell'Avvocato |publisher=Pironti |access-date=26 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720142958/http://videos.orange.es/video/iLyROoaftLOt.html |archive-date=20 July 2011 |language=it}}</ref> [[File:President Enrico De Nicola sign the Italian Constitution 1947.jpg|left|thumb|230px|De Nicola signs the Italian Constitution on 27 December 1947]]
He returned to his law practice, only taking an interest in politics again after the fall of Italian Fascism. After Benito Mussolini's fall from power in 1943, king Victor Emmanuel tried to extricate the monarchy from its collaboration with the Fascist regime; De Nicola was perhaps the most influential mediator in the ensuing transition. The king's son Umberto acquired a new title of "Lieutenant-General of the Realm" and took over most of the functions of the sovereign. Victor Emanuel later abdicated; Umberto became king as Umberto II and a Constitutional Referendum was held, won by republicans. A new Constituent Assembly was elected, and prime minister Alcide de Gasperi became acting head of state for a few weeks when Umberto II was exiled and left Italy. The Constituent Assembly then elected De Nicola Provisional Head of State on 28 June 1946, with 80% of the votes, at the first round of voting. Giulio Andreotti later recalled that De Nicola — a man of great modesty — was not sure whether to accept the nomination and underwent frequent changes of mind in the face of repeated insistence by all the major political leaders. Andreotti recalled that the journalist Manlio Lupinacci then issued an appeal to De Nicola in the pages of ''Il Giornale d'Italia'': "Your Excellency, please, decide to decide if you can accept to accept..."<ref>B. Vespa, ''Storia d'Italia da Mussolini a Berlusconi'', p. 32 {{in lang|it}}</ref>
On 25 June 1947, De Nicola resigned from the post, citing health reasons, but the Constituent Assembly immediately re-elected him again the following day, having recognized in his act signs of nobility and humility. After the Italian Constitution took effect, he was formally named the "President of the Italian Republic" on 1 January 1948. He finally refused to be a candidate for the first constitutional election the following May, in which Luigi Einaudi was elected to the Quirinale, the formal seat of the Italian presidency.<ref>Cristina Mascheroni, ''Enrico De Nicola'', Infobergamo (2006) [http://www.infobergamo.it/bergamo/articoli/2006/14denic4.htm] {{in lang|it}} Accessed 26 January 2012</ref>
In 1948, De Nicola became a senator for life as a former Head of State,{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}} and later was elected President of the Senate, and of the Constitutional Court.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}} He died at Torre del Greco, in the province of Naples, on 1 October 1959.<ref name="DBDI">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/enrico-de-nicola_(Dizionario-Biografico) |title=DE NICOLA, Enrico |first=Piero |last=Craveri |encyclopedia=Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani |language=it |volume=38 |year=1990}}</ref> He was unmarried and had no children.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}
==Honours== 100px – Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}
100px – Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (1956)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.quirinale.it/onorificenze/insigniti/32369|title=Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana|website=www.quirinale.it}}</ref>
==Political titles== His other political titles included President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Temporary Chief of the Italian State and President of the Italian Senate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.archontology.org/nations/italy/presidents_italy1/denicola.php|title=Biography of De Nicola, Enrico - Archontology.org|website=www.archontology.org}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography and notes== * Andrea Jelardi, ''Enrico De Nicola. Il presidente galantuomo'', Kairòs, Naples (2009). {{in lang|it}} {{notelist}}
==External links== * {{PM20|FID=pe/022621}}
{{S-start}} {{S-off}} {{s-bef|before=Vittorio Emanuele Orlando}} {{s-ttl|title=President of the Chamber of Deputies|years=1920–1924}} {{s-aft|after=Alfredo Rocco}} |- {{s-bef|before=Alcide De Gasperi}} {{s-ttl|title=Provisional Head of State of Italy<br />{{Small|Acting}}|years=1946}} {{s-aft|after=Himself<br /><small>''as President of Italy''</small>}} |- {{s-bef|before=Himself<br /><small>''as Provisional Head of State of Italy''</small>}} {{s-ttl|title=President of Italy|years=1948}} {{s-aft|after=Luigi Einaudi}} |- {{s-bef|before=Ivanoe Bonomi}} {{s-ttl|title=President of the Senate of the Republic|years=1951–1952}} {{s-aft|after=Giuseppe Paratore}} {{S-legal}} {{s-new|office}} {{s-ttl|title=President of the Constitutional Court|years=1956–1957}} {{s-aft|after=Gaetano Azzariti}} {{S-end}}
{{Navboxes |title = Enrico De Nicola |titlestyle = style="background:#eee; |list = {{ItalianPresidents}} {{President of the Italian Senate}} {{President of Italian Chamber of Deputies}} }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Nicola, Enrico}} Category:1877 births Category:1959 deaths Category:19th-century Neapolitan people Category:Italian Liberal Party politicians Category:Presidents of Italy Category:Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy) Category:Presidents of the Italian Senate Category:Deputies of Legislature XXIII of the Kingdom of Italy Category:Deputies of Legislature XXIV of the Kingdom of Italy Category:Deputies of Legislature XXV of the Kingdom of Italy Category:Deputies of Legislature XXVI of the Kingdom of Italy Category:Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy Category:Members of the National Council (Italy) Category:Senators of Legislature I of Italy Category:Senators of Legislature II of Italy Category:Senators of Legislature III of Italy Category:Italian life senators Category:Presidents of the Constitutional Court of Italy Category:Knights Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Category:Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Category:20th-century Italian judges Category:Burials at the Cemetery of Poggioreale