00:04Welcome back to Dentro Lestoria's Instant Videos.
00:09Today, we pay tribute to someone who has just left us, Emma Bonino, one of the most groundbreaking
00:16figures in contemporary Italian and European politics.
00:21They called her the girl from Bra because she was born there in Piedmont, a girl who
00:27matured over time, inextricably linking her name to the history of civil rights, feminism,
00:34and European federalism.
00:39A girl, a woman, who never sought easy approval.
00:45On the contrary, she made civil disobedience and minority causes her primary political
00:53weapon.
00:54She was able to transform radical demands, sometimes even marginalized ones, into law,
01:04forever changing the social landscape of our country.
01:08A girl who, when she was young, had grown up deep in Piedmont, had seen her family change,
01:16moving from an agricultural life to one of commerce, then Milan, Bocconi University, a degree
01:23in languages, the founding of CISA in 1975, the Information Center on Sterilization and
01:32Abortion, which was an organization aimed at providing medical support to those women who
01:39found themselves having to get an abortion, but they weren't protected, they couldn't
01:45do it, and the state did not provide for the voluntary termination of pregnancy.
01:51It was the era of back-alley abortionists, of illegal abortions, of women who sometimes died
01:58from an abortion.
02:01Thanks to Emma Bonino, who even turned herself in for assisting with voluntary terminations
02:08of pregnancy and got arrested, spending several days in prison, thanks to her determination
02:15and civic struggle, abortion became a right in Italy.
02:20Women can choose whether to continue a pregnancy or terminate it, according to a legal framework
02:27and with full medical assistance, even though Emma Bonino had to clash, and not only her, with
02:36some moral, religious, and at times opportunistic resistance from part of our society.
02:44She entered Parliament for the first time in 1976 and dedicated her entire life, which ended
02:55today, fighting for rights.
02:59She did so much, not only for women, not only on the abortion issue, she did so much within
03:06the Radical Party, then in its various transformations.
03:09Think of the Rose in the Fist, or More Europe, the latest incarnation of Marco Piniella's radical
03:16dream.
03:18She was a European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Consumer Policy, and Fisheries, under the
03:24commission of Jacques Santerre.
03:28She personally visited some conflict zones, for example in the former Yugoslavia, or in Rwanda,
03:36devastated by genocide.
03:37She openly defied the Taliban, because in 1997 she flew to Kabul, Afghanistan, back when
03:48the Taliban first had control of the capital, to denounce the Taliban regime's violence against
03:56women.
03:59She was a key promoter of the establishment of the International Criminal Court.
04:05She signed the Rome Statute in 1998 to prosecute crimes against humanity.
04:13She served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Letta government.
04:18She was Minister of International Trade in the second Prodi government from 2006 to 2008.
04:27She played an active role, even in international controversies.
04:34Just think, she spearheaded a global campaign against female genital mutilation, and then against
04:42the death penalty, proposing a universal moratorium.
04:48Emma Bonino was a courageous woman.
04:51She was sustained by her ideals, by a deeply secular faith.
04:59Even though she had a relationship of mutual respect, for example, with Pope Francis.
05:06It was precisely the Pope from the other end of the world, or rather, as he put it, from
05:12the ends of the earth, who publicly called her one of the greats of modern Italy.
05:19Emma Bonino also had a dream, the dream of a federal Europe.
05:27That is why she led the old radical party to transform itself and become Pew Europa, an openly
05:34liberal and pro-European party, precisely because she had that dream and believed in it.
05:41A dream of a united, strong Europe, capable of giving dignity and rights to all of its citizens.
05:52She had fully embraced in her political vision the ideas of Altiero Spinelli, one of the founding
06:00fathers of Europe, one of the signatories of the Ventatine Manifesto.
06:04She believed, Emma Bonino did, in the ability to overcome the divisions and borders of nation
06:14states for a larger entity that would guarantee peace and prosperity to the continent, while
06:21being fully aware of the many obstacles to be faced along this path.
06:25And she faced her share of difficulties, too.
06:28And not just referring to her arrest over the fight against abortion, but to the insults
06:35she received, to the threats.
06:38In 2015, 11 years ago, Emma Bonino publicly announced on a radio show that she was ill, that she had
06:50lung cancer.
06:52Instead of hiding, instead of denying it.
06:57Without seeking attention, but simply to break a taboo, the taboo surrounding illness, she
07:06decided to speak about it, to share her experience, to carry on with her political work, actively,
07:16even while undergoing the necessary treatments.
07:21For 11 years, Emma Bonino fought this unwelcome guest.
07:29Her condition had worsened a few days ago, leading to an emergency hospitalization and ultimately
07:37her death.
07:39But what did Emma Bonino leave behind?
07:42She certainly left behind an Italy profoundly different from the one she was born into.
07:48She was born in 1948, when the Italian Republic had just come into being, and the Constitution
07:57had only recently taken effect.
08:00She left in Italy with divorce, another one of the major battles, not directly hers, but Marco Piniella's.
08:10Legal abortion, the living will legislation, another great civil triumph, and greater awareness
08:18of individual civil liberties, then raising awareness about crucial issues, such as the death penalty.
08:31Italy, for instance, abolished the death penalty.
08:36Other countries still retain it in their legal systems today.
08:42Emma Bonino has always believed that correcting even the worst of mistakes does not require a drastic solution.
08:54There are other solutions.
08:58Emma Bonino leaves behind the courage of a woman.
09:13She leaves behind a faith in the referendum as a tool, which, as we saw, last March can have a
09:29major impact
09:30on Italian politics and society.
09:33She leaves behind an unfinished dream, that of the United States of Europe.
09:41A dream that today still seems very distant, perhaps even more distant than in the past, for many reasons.
09:48The war in Ukraine, the rise of resurgent nationalisms growing ever darker.
09:55And yet a dream that remains alive, even after the death of Emma Bonino.
10:02Today we remember her, we honor her, and in our hearts we tell her,
10:08Dear Emma, thank you for everything you've done, and we hope that your dreams not only never die,
10:16but one day, who knows, hopefully soon, they may be fully realized.
10:22Bye-bye.
10:23Bye-bye.
10:23Bye-bye.
10:23Bye-bye.
10:23Bye-bye.
10:24Bye-bye.
10:25Bye-bye.
10:26Bye-bye.
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