Luigi Ciriaco De Mita (; 2 February 1928 – 26 May 2022) was an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy from April 1988 to July 1989. A member of the Christian Democracy (DC), De Mita served as its secretary and leader from May 1982 until February 1989, becoming one of the most influential politicians in the country, as well as one of the most prominent members of DC's left-wing. During his long-time career, he also served as Minister of Industry, Commerce and Crafts from 1973 to 1974, Minister of Foreign Trade from 1974 to 1976 and Minister for Interventions in the South from 1976 until 1979. He had been a member of the Chamber of Deputies for more than 40 years between 1963 and 2008 and also member of the European Parliament. In recent years, De Mita served as mayor of his hometown Nusco from 2014 until his death in 2022. Early life and studies Ciriaco De Mita was born in Nusco in the Avellinese hinterland in 1928. His father was a tailor and postman, while his mother was a housewife. After attending the classical high school in nearby Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi with excellent grades, he won a scholarship in the Augustinianum College and enrolled at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, where he graduated in law and then started working as a consultant at Enrico Mattei's Eni legal office. Political career As a young man, De Mita joined the Christian Democracy (DC) and entered politics. In 1953, De Mita was among the proponents of "La Base", a leftist wing of the party, close to Giovanni Marcora. He rose through the ranks of the party, becoming a member of its national council in 1956 during the party's congress in Trento. In the 1963 general election, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the constituency of Benevento–Avellino–Salerno with more than 67,000 votes. and he will be a deputy uninterruptedly until the elections of 1994. In 1968 De Mita was appointed undersecretary of state to the Ministry of Interior, becoming a member of the government for the first time. De Mita was appointed deputy secretary of the Christian Democracy in 1969, serving under the leadership of Arnaldo Forlani; he hold the position until February 1973. During the 1970s, De Mita hold various positions in the government. He served in the cabinet of Mariano Rumor