Background

Mr. D'Alema, welcome to Berkeley. Where were you born and raised?

I was born in Rome in 1949 and was raised in various Italian cities, namely in Genoa and Pisa. I then worked in Puglia, a region in the southern part of the country. My family is originally from the South. I am a delegate of the South, from Puglia, and I currently live in Rome. As president of the major opposition party, my work takes place mostly in Rome.

Looking back, how do you think your parents shaped your character?

My family, my parents, had a big role in shaping my character. My father was an official of the Communist Party, a deputy. He was a political man. He was part of the Resistance against Fascism, against Nazism. Undoubtedly, my passion for political life was shaped by my family's experience.

Did you talk politics around the dinner table?

Sometimes, but aside from family discussions, you could say we breathed politics -- it was in the air. I participated in the Communist Party's youth organization from the time I was a small boy.

Were there any historical events during the years that you were young that you recall and that helped shape the direction of your life?

Certainly, My relationship with politics -- one could say that I came from a family that was very influenced by political and historical events. I remember clearly important events in Italian history -- the antifascist movement of the 1960s and the major protest and popular revolt -- because, at the time, my father was the Secretary of the Communist Party in Genoa, which was the principal city of that mass movement. I remember later, in 1968, I participated in the protests and youth movement. I was in Prague during the Soviet invasion, and this event had a huge impact, not only on my political views, but on my personal development as well. Then in more recent years, I lived through many important historical moments, also because I was part of the Italian Communist Party leadership after 1975, and I aided in the direction of the Italian Communist Party, experiencing politics at its highest level.

Was it difficult for you to deal with the events in Czechoslovakia as a member of the Communist Party?

Yes. It was a difficult challenge, but fortunately the Communist Party [of Italy] was clearly opposed to the Soviet military intervention. I remember that this news came and spread throughout Prague right at the most dramatic moment of the Soviet occupation. I was filled with pride to be a part of a Communist Party that took an original and autonomous position, distinct from the orthodox parties of the Soviet persuasion.

At the university you studied philosophy?

Yes.

What did you take away from those studies that was helpful in your political career?

I think that philosophy is very useful in a person's general education, because it teaches you to pursue learning. It does not have a technical or pragmatic application, but it is extremely important in molding personalities. And so having studied philosophy has been very useful for me in my life.

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