Senators for life in Italy (Italian: senatori a vita; m. sg. senatore a vita; f. sg. senatrice a vita) are members of the Italian Senate who are either appointed by the President of the Italian Republic "for outstanding patriotic merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field" or are former presidents and thus senators for life ex officio. A maximum of five senators for life can be in office at the same time.
Every Italian president has made at least one appointment of a senator for life, with the exception of Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (since in his term there were more than five) and inaugural officeholder Enrico De Nicola (whose provisional mandate only lasted two years). The president who appointed the highest number of senators for life was Luigi Einaudi, who made eight appointments during his term. Of the incumbent senators as of January 2026,[update] President Giorgio Napolitano appointed professor Mario Monti on 9 November 2011, and researcher Elena Cattaneo, architect Renzo Piano and Nobel-laureate physicist Carlo Rubbia on 30 August 2013; President Sergio Mattarella appointed Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre on 19 January 2018.
Senators for life can decide not to be part of any parliamentary group, as opposed to elected senators who, if not affiliated with any specific political movement, automatically become members of the Mixed Group. As of January 2026,[update] only four women have been nominated senators for life in Italy, namely politician Camilla Ravera, Nobel-laureate neurobiologist Rita Levi-Montalcini and incumbent senators Elena Cattaneo and Liliana Segre.
Limitations
The Italian Constitution originally provided that the President of the Republic may appoint up to five senators for life. This resulted in a debate whether five was intended to be the maximum overall number of senators for life (restrictive interpretation), or if each president had the ability to appoint up to five senators, regardless of how many had been appointed by their predecessors and were still living (extensive interpretation). The former interpretation enjoyed the support of a majority of scholars until 1984, when President Sandro Pertini and his successor Francesco Cossiga applied the latter interpretation. Subsequent presidents applied varying standards. Oscar Luigi Scalfaro appointed none, in deference to the stricter reading, while both Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Giorgio Napolitano appointed five each. The 2020 constitutional reform ended the debate by establishing unambiguously a limit of five overall appointed senators.
List of senators for life
| Portrait | Senator | Known for | Date of appointment | Appointed by | End of appointment (reason) | Length of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrico De Nicola | President (1946–1948) | 12 May 1948 | ex officio | 1 October 1959 (death) | 11 years, 142 days | |
| Guido Castelnuovo | Mathematician | 5 December 1949 | Luigi Einaudi | 27 April 1952 (death) | 2 years, 144 days | |
| Arturo Toscanini | Conductor | 5 December 1949 | 7 December 1949 (resignation) | 2 days | ||
| Pietro Canonica | Sculptor, painter and conductor | 1 December 1950 | 8 June 1959 (death) | 8 years, 189 days | ||
| Gaetano De Sanctis | Historian | 1 December 1950 | 9 April 1957 (death) | 6 years, 129 days | ||
| Pasquale Jannaccone | Economist | 1 December 1950 | 22 December 1959 (death) | 9 years, 21 days | ||
| Carlo Alberto Salustri | Poet | 1 December 1950 | 21 December 1950 (death) | 20 days | ||
| Luigi Sturzo | Priest | 17 September 1952 | 8 August 1959 (death) | 6 years, 325 days | ||
| Umberto Zanotti Bianco | Archeologist | 17 September 1952 | 28 August 1963 (death) | 10 years, 345 days | ||
| Luigi Einaudi | President (1948–1955) | 11 May 1955 | ex officio | 30 October 1961 (death) | 6 years, 172 days | |
| Giuseppe Paratore | Politician and attorney | 9 November 1957 | Giovanni Gronchi | 26 February 1967 (death) | 9 years, 109 days | |
| Giovanni Gronchi | President (1955–1962) | 11 May 1962 | ex officio | 17 October 1978 (death) | 16 years, 159 days | |
| Cesare Merzagora | Politician | 2 March 1963 | Antonio Segni | 1 May 1991 (death) | 28 years, 60 days | |
| Ferruccio Parri | Prime Minister (1945) | 2 March 1963 | 8 December 1981 (death) | 18 years, 281 days | ||
| Meuccio Ruini | Politician | 2 March 1963 | 6 March 1970 (death) | 7 years, 4 days | ||
| Antonio Segni | Prime Minister (1955–1957, 1959–1960); President (1962–1964) | 6 December 1964 | ex officio | 1 December 1972 (death) | 7 years, 361 days | |
| Vittorio Valletta | Industrialist | 28 November 1966 | Giuseppe Saragat | 10 August 1967 (death) | 255 days | |
| Eugenio Montale | Poet and prose writer | 13 June 1967 | 12 September 1981 (death) | 14 years, 91 days | ||
| Giovanni Leone | Prime Minister (1963, 1968) | 27 August 1967 | 23 December 1971 (elected President) | 4 years, 118 days | ||
| President (1971–1978) | 15 June 1978 | ex officio | 9 November 2001 (death) | 23 years, 147 days | ||
| Pietro Nenni | Politician | 25 November 1970 | Giuseppe Saragat | 1 January 1980 (death) | 9 years, 37 days | |
| Giuseppe Saragat | President (1964–1971) | 29 December 1971 | ex officio | 11 June 1988 (death) | 16 years, 165 days | |
| Amintore Fanfani | Prime Minister (1954, 1958–1959, 1960–1963, 1982–1983, 1987) | 10 March 1972 | Giovanni Leone | 20 November 1999 (death) | 27 years, 255 days | |
| Leo Valiani | Historian, politician and journalist | 12 January 1980 | Sandro Pertini | 18 September 1999 (death) | 19 years, 249 days | |
| Eduardo De Filippo | Actor | 28 September 1981 | 31 October 1984 (death) | 3 years, 33 days | ||
| Camilla Ravera | Politician | 8 January 1982 | 14 April 1988 (death) | 5 years, 257 days | ||
| Carlo Bo | Poet | 18 July 1984 | 21 July 2001 (death) | 17 years, 3 days | ||
| Norberto Bobbio | Philosopher | 18 July 1984 | 9 January 2004 (death) | 19 years, 175 days | ||
| Sandro Pertini | President (1978–1985) | 29 June 1985 | ex officio | 24 February 1990 (death) | 4 years, 240 days | |
| Giovanni Spadolini | Prime Minister (1981–1982) | 2 May 1991 | Francesco Cossiga | 4 August 1994 (death) | 3 years, 94 days | |
| Giovanni Agnelli | Industrialist | 1 June 1991 | 24 January 2003 (death) | 11 years, 237 days | ||
| Giulio Andreotti | Prime Minister (1972–1973, 1976–1979, 1989–1992) | 1 June 1991 | 6 May 2013 (death) | 21 years, 339 days | ||
| Francesco De Martino | Politician | 1 June 1991 | 18 November 2002 (death) | 11 years, 170 days | ||
| Paolo Emilio Taviani | Politician | 1 June 1991 | 18 June 2001 (death) | 10 years, 17 days | ||
| Francesco Cossiga | Prime Minister (1979–1980); President (1985–1992) | 28 April 1992 | ex officio | 17 August 2010 (death) | 18 years, 111 days | |
| Oscar Luigi Scalfaro | President (1992–1999) | 16 May 1999 | 29 January 2012 (death) | 12 years, 258 days | ||
| Rita Levi-Montalcini | Neurobiologist | 1 August 2001 | Carlo Azeglio Ciampi | 30 December 2012 (death) | 11 years, 151 days | |
| Emilio Colombo | Prime Minister (1970–1972) | 14 January 2003 | 24 June 2013 (death) | 10 years, 161 days | ||
| Mario Luzi | Poet | 14 October 2004 | 28 February 2005 (death) | 137 days | ||
| Giorgio Napolitano | Politician | 23 September 2005 | 15 May 2006 (elected President) | 235 days | ||
| President (2006–2015) | 14 January 2015 | ex officio | 22 September 2023 (death) | 8 years, 251 days | ||
| Sergio Pininfarina | Designer | 23 September 2005 | Carlo Azeglio Ciampi | 3 July 2012 (death) | 6 years, 284 days | |
| Carlo Azeglio Ciampi | Economist and politician; Prime Minister (1993–1994); President (1999–2006) | 16 May 2006 | ex officio | 16 September 2016 (death) | 10 years, 123 days | |
| Mario Monti | Economist and politician; Prime Minister (2011–2013) | 9 November 2011 | Giorgio Napolitano | currently serving | 14 years, 87 days | |
| Claudio Abbado | Conductor | 30 August 2013 | 20 January 2014 (death) | 143 days | ||
| Elena Cattaneo | Pharmacologist | 30 August 2013 | currently serving | 12 years, 158 days | ||
| Renzo Piano | Architect | 30 August 2013 | ||||
| Carlo Rubbia | Physicist | 30 August 2013 | ||||
| Liliana Segre | Holocaust survivor and activist | 19 January 2018 | Sergio Mattarella | 8 years, 16 days |
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