Nilde Iotti

"(About the the of the 1990 high school graduation exam) I would have proposed a different topic. I would have set the Italian exam paper on: “What are the elements that—historically, culturally, and institutionally—define the unity of a country, in a world that, on the one hand, increasingly values particular realities (from an ethnic, traditional, or cultural point of view) and, on the other, broader supranational dimensions?”"

"(About the Bicameral Committee for Constitutional Reforms) The conditions are in place for positive work. We must all carry it out with the best interests of our country in mind. We will and must be judged on this work."

"I believe the time is ripe for a woman as President of the Italian Republic. This is also thanks to the long journey women have made over the past 50 years in the fight for rights and complete equality. :*‘’Bonino: “Yes to the challenge for the Quirinale”‘’, ‘'La Stampa’', March 7, 1999."

"(About the comparison between Palmiro Togliatti and Massimo D'Alema) D'Alema has great political intelligence, but he has less experience, which leads him to be more impetuous and less attentive to repercussions."

"Since women have been recognized as fully equal in the political sphere, with the right to vote and stand for election, it follows that women themselves must be emancipated from conditions of backwardness and inferiority in all areas of social life, and restored to a legal position that does not undermine their personality and dignity as women and citizens."

"(About the exploratory task of forming a government entrusted to her by Francesco Cossiga) Perhaps to say that it is a historic event is to say too much. But certainly, it is a development of no small importance. :*‘’“I light a candle, so that it won't be me”‘’, ‘'La Stampa’', March 28, 1987."

"(About Palmiro Togliatti) They spoke of his ties to Stalin and his awe, even in difficult times. In reality, he knew him little: they had met on three or four occasions. He admired him as a tough and tenacious fighter, but he understood the revelations of the 20th Congress and was shocked by them. [...] He had a keen sensitivity, a strong propensity to understand. I know that the image of him is different, but I knew him in another way. He defended himself against facts that deeply disturbed him, but his intelligence forced him to accept them as moments in the journey of civilization."

"(About the defeat of the Popular Democratic Front in the 1948 elections) On April 18, we found ourselves faced with a population called upon for the first time, unlike in 1946, to choose the parties that would govern after the breakup of the anti-fascist unity. It was a society we knew very little about."

"From an interview with ‘'l'Unità’'; quoted in ‘’[http://www.archiviolastampa.it/component/option,com_lastampa/task,search/mod,libera/action,viewer/Itemid,3/page,9/articleid,1326_02_1988_0094_0030_19271116/ Nilde Iotti recalls April 18, 1948. “At that time, the Italian Communist Party did not understand society,” La Stampa, April 16, 1988."

"(About Massimo D'Alema secretary of the Democratic Party of the Left) At a time like this, we need a party leader with many skills."

"The Constitution does not and cannot have either an ideology or a partisan philosophy."

"(About nuclear armaments) The atomic race has reached a dangerous and intolerable limit, as ordinary citizens in every country understand. The time has come for their leaders to understand this too. :*From a speech to Michelin workers; quoted in ‘’A message of peace and hope from Nilde Iotti visiting the “Granda”‘’, ‘'La Stampa’', March 18, 1985."

"The presence of women in Parliament has elevated women's issues as an integral part of Italian political life. In the past, these issues were kept on the sidelines."

"The Resistance was an extraordinary event. It achieved a truly exceptional unity that ranged from Badoglio's officers to communist workers."

"(Referring to the Northern League) The leagues stir up old ideas of separation and selfishness that call national unity into question."

"In the democratic system established by the Constitution, the Parliament, and only the Parliament, is the expression of the will of the people. Our Constitution does not allow the country to be without a Parliament endowed with its powers for even a single day."

"We ask that children born outside of marriage be recognized in all respects, both during marriage and when that marriage has broken down, because we believe that this is the only possible solution, the only morally just solution. [...] Children do not ask to be born, and the responsibility for their birth does not lie with them, but with the parents who brought them into the world. Therefore, the responsibility of the parents cannot fall on them."

"I shouldn't speak, given that I was president of the Chamber of Deputies, but de Mita's main flaw is that he wants to respond to everyone who speaks, one by one. He never waits for the discussion on a point to be exhausted. :*‘’Iotti: “De Mita does not know how to be president”, La Stampa, November 19, 1992."

"(About the attack to Palmiro Togliatti) It is impossible to understand that dramatic event without recalling the heated climate that followed the Christian Democrats' resounding election victory on April 18, 1948. That climate was very important, it was decisive. No one could have imagined that the election campaign led by the Church of Pius XII and the civic committees of Luigi Gedda could reach such a degree of violence. A violence that did not abate on the part of the victors even after their overwhelming success. That atmosphere, I repeat, was undoubtedly at the root of the attack to Togliatti. :*‘’Four gunshots to kill the Best‘’, ‘'la Repubblica’', July 14, 1998."

"(About her relationship with Palmiro Togliatti) To think that I could have made an emotional ultimatum such as “if you stay in Russia, I'll leave you” is to ignore the nature of our relationship and Togliatti's temperament. :*‘’A story of love and politics‘’, ‘'La Stampa’', March 28, 1987."

"(About women's commitments beyond work) When I started my political career, I had a home and had to think about that too, in addition to the thousand commitments that political life entails. :*‘’Parliament celebrates Nilde Iotti's 70th birthday‘’, ‘'La Stampa’', April 10, 1990."

"(Abot attack to Palmiro Togliatti) When, a few days after his surgery, he was allowed to read the newspapers, Togliatti wanted to read the reports of the attack. He was struck by a nine-column headline in L'Unità: “Away with the government of civil war.” I remember his comment: if they had written “Away with the Minister of the Interior,” that would have been a request that was not only plausible but also acceptable! And in fact, it later emerged that in the Council of Ministers, which met urgently on the same day as the attack, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlo Sforza, and his undersecretary, a very young Aldo Moro, had raised the issue of the Minister of the Interior's resignation."

"(About the request for a new Constituent Assembly during Tangentopoli) A constituent assembly is convened when there is such a rupture within the country, as happened after the war and after the fall of fascism, and this was indispensable. Even in the presence of very serious events, of a dangerous degeneration of the political system, we are not in a post-war situation, and resorting to a constituent assembly seems to me to be truly excessive."

"Interviewer: In recent months, you have become even more popular because you are the author of a proposal to drastically reduce—if not halve—the number of deputies and senators. Why? Nilde Iotti: In 1948, when the Constitution of the Italian Republic came into force, we were emerging from fascism and there was a need to reestablish a relationship, a democratic fabric with society. But now there are: Regional Councils, which were elected in 1970, Provincial Councils, Municipal Councils. We are faced with a much more complex society, a more complex democracy. So, I believe that the number of parliamentarians is really too high."

"We loved the mountains. Togliatti was a keen walker, as was I."

"(About Togliatti's memorial) It is not true that Togliatti was exploited, that the memorial was used against Khrushchev. I do not see a connection between the memorial and the fall of Khrushchev. The great process that would lead to this event was already underway in the USSR."

"(About his last trip to Russia) Togliatti was concerned about relations between the USSR and China, and about the situation between the party and intellectuals that had arisen after Khrushchev had taken a very rigid and harsh stance."

"(Aboout the Togliatti amnesty of 1946) The amnesty helped break the continuity with a regime that constantly preached revenge."

"(About Togliatti's failure to participate in the Resistance movement) I assure you that Togliatti was not far from the Resistance. He was a cold man, yes. But he hated badges, and the only one he always wanted to show off was the one given to him by the Volunteer Corps of Freedom. If he could have, he would have parachuted into northern Italy. Cold, yes, but he had utopia inside him."

"Talking about amnesty in the case of the Years of Lead would be out of place. Let's not forget that the armed struggle was waged against a democratic state, not against a fascist regime."

"(About Clean Hands) What frightens and worries me is the slowness of the judicial proceedings in the face of a perverse intertwining of politics and business that has increasingly taken on the configuration of a vast, widespread, ramified system."