a member of the Delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China and a substitute for the Delegation to the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly. His leadership however had been contested in the congress of October 2005 where the son of Bettino Craxi, Bobo Craxi claimed to have been declared secretary after De Michelis had left the hall declaring the Congress void. This led Bobo Craxi to open a judicial case. The judge, on the second verdicts, gave unquestionably confirmed the right to use the symbol and the secretary to Gianni De Michelis. At the 2006 Italian general election he was elected MP for the Italian parliament but gave his seat to Lucio Barani since he decided to stay in the European Parliament. In October 2007, De Michelis joined the newly formed Socialist Party, made up of the diaspora of the historical PSI. At this time, De Michelis along with fellow former NPSI MEP Alessandro Battilocchio were admitted into the parliamentary group of the Party of European Socialists. De Michelis died in Venice on 11 May 2019 at the age of 78. Personal life De Michelis was a great lover of dance and discos: in 1988, he wrote a book entitled "Dove Andiamo a Ballare Questa Sera?" () in which he reviewed 250 Italian dance night clubs. Electoral history Writings References External links 1940 births 2019 deaths Politicians of Veneto Politicians from Venice Deputy Prime Ministers of Italy Foreign ministers of Italy Italian Socialist Party politicians Italian Methodists Italian Christian socialists New Italian Socialist Party MEPs MEPs for Italy 2004–2009 Socialist Party (Italy, 1996) politicians New Italian Socialist Party politicians Methodist socialists Deaths from Parkinson's disease Neurological disease deaths in Veneto Italian politicians convicted of crimes Deputies of Legislature VII of Italy Deputies of Legislature VIII of Italy Deputies of Legislature IX of Italy Deputies of Legislature X of Italy Deputies of Legislature XI of Italy Italian Freemasons