Former Italian foreign minister and civil rights leader Emma Bonino dies at 78

Passing in Rome after hospitalisation

Former Italian Foreign Minister and European Commissioner Emma Bonino died in Rome on the morning of 11 September 2026 at the age of 78, following a long illness. She was admitted to the Santo Spirito hospital in Rome on 7 September 2026. On 10 September, her personal doctor and hospital physicians agreed to transfer her out of intensive care to a private medical facility. Her condition remained delicate throughout the transfer until her death. The political party Più Europa confirmed her passing, describing her as one of the most courageous figures in the political history of Italy.

Early activism and abortion reform

Born in 1948 to a farming family in Bra in the Piedmont region, Bonino attended a liceo before graduating in foreign languages and literature from Bocconi University with a thesis on Malcolm X. Her political engagement began in 1974 after an infertility diagnosis was followed by an unexpected pregnancy, prompting her to seek an abortion through a Radical-run clinic in Florence. She then joined Marco Pannella and Gianfranco Spadaccia to organise public assistance for women seeking abortions and commit deliberate acts of civil disobedience. In 1975, police arrested Bonino, Pannella, and Spadaccia after she performed abortions using a bicycle pump technique borrowed from the French feminist movement. Her civil disobedience and a signature campaign organised with L'Espresso led directly to the enactment of Law 194 in 1978, which legalised abortion across Italy.

European leadership and cabinet positions

Bonino built a fifty-year career spanning the Italian Parliament, national cabinets, and European Union institutions. She served as a European Commissioner, Vice President of the Italian Senate, Minister of International Trade and European Policies in the second Prodi cabinet, and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Letta government. Beyond her institutional posts, she campaigned against global hunger, female genital mutilation, and authoritarian regimes, while supporting the creation of a federal United States of Europe. In 2011, Newsweek named her the only Italian on its list of 150 women who move the world. During the 2000s and 2010s, she also advocated for legislation on medically assisted dying and launched the 'Ero straniero' initiative in 2017 to reform Italian immigration rules.

Reactions from Italian and European leaders

Political leaders across Italy and the European Union published statements honoring Bonino's public service. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni delivered a statement reflecting on their divergent political backgrounds and Bonino's public standing.

Emma Bonino was a strong, recognizable voice in Italian politics for decades, advancing her ideas with determination. Our stories and our sensibilities were distant, but this never prevented me from recognizing her weight and her role in the public life of our nation.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola commemorated Bonino's work within European institutions.

She always chose to move forward, showing the way to others. That is how she will be remembered in Italy and in Brussels, where she served as a Member of the European Parliament and as a European Commissioner. The Europe she fought for will miss her.

Former industry minister Carlo Calenda described Bonino as the final protagonist of Italy's modern civil rights movement, while Renew Europe MEP Sandro Gozi noted her lifetime commitment to European federalism.