Emma Bonino, one of Italy's most influential and unconventional political figures, died on [date] at the age of 78. Her health had deteriorated over recent weeks, and she passed away in Rome after being admitted to the Santo Spirito hospital following a respiratory crisis. Initially placed in intensive care, she had shown signs of improvement before being moved to a private facility.
Bonino's political journey spanned more than five decades, marked by a relentless commitment to civil liberties, human rights, and the European project. Born in Bra, Piedmont, in 1948, she joined the Radical Party in her youth and was elected to Italy's Chamber of Deputies in 1976. Even before entering parliament, she co-founded the Information Centre on Sterilisation and Abortion (CISA) in 1975, campaigning for safe and legal abortion in Italy. Her activism often involved personal risk; she deliberately courted arrest to highlight the dangers faced by women seeking illegal abortions.
From Rome to Brussels: a European vocation
Bonino's political horizon quickly expanded beyond Italy. In 1979, she was elected to the European Parliament, where she focused on human rights in Eastern Europe and opposition to authoritarian regimes. She supported the Solidarność movement in Poland in the late 1980s, an act that led to her arrest and expulsion from the country. Her activism also took her to New York, where she was arrested during a campaign for the distribution of sterile syringes, and to Afghanistan, where the Taliban detained her after she photographed women.
Her work increasingly addressed global issues: war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the abolition of the death penalty, and the establishment of an International Criminal Court. From 1994 to 1999, she served as European Commissioner for humanitarian aid, fisheries, and consumer policy. During the Balkan crises, she was a vocal advocate for Western military intervention, a stance that put her at odds with parts of the peace movement but reflected her conviction that inaction could lead to greater atrocities.
Bonino returned to Italian government in 2006 as minister for international trade and European affairs in Romano Prodi's centre-left coalition. In 2013, she became foreign minister in Enrico Letta's government, a role that underscored her standing as a seasoned diplomat and advocate for European integration.
Throughout her career, Bonino was elected seven times to the Chamber of Deputies and twice to the Senate. Her political identity remained firmly rooted in the radical, liberal, and pro-European tradition. In 2017, she helped found More Europe, a liberal and pro-European movement that became a party in 2019. Even in her later years, she remained an active voice in public debates on civil rights, Europe, and international affairs.
Bonino's health struggles were public. In 2015, she revealed she had a tumour in her left lung. After years of treatment, she announced in 2023 that she had overcome the disease. However, new respiratory problems emerged, leading to hospitalisations in autumn 2024 and again in November 2025, when doctors ruled out a recurrence of cancer and identified a metabolic issue instead.
Her death marks the loss of a figure who, alongside Marco Pannella, brought issues such as abortion, drug liberalisation, and the fight against the death penalty from the fringes into the mainstream of Italian and European politics. She was combative, sometimes divisive, but impossible to ignore. Her legacy is a reminder that political courage and personal conviction can shape the course of a continent.
