Eugenio Scalfari is an Italianjournalist, editor of the news magazine L'espresso, former member of parliament in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, co-founder of the newspaperLa Repubblica and its editor from 1976 to 1996. In 2018, he wrote an article related to his interview with Pope Francis stating that the pontiff made claims that hell did not exist.
Early life
Scalfari was born in Civitavecchia on April 6, 1924. Scalfari began secondary studies at the Mamiani High School in Rome. Scalfari's family, of Calabrian origin, later moved to Sanremo and he completed his high school studies there, at the G.D. Cassini school, where Italo Calvino was a classmate. In 1950 Scalfari married Simonetta, daughter of the journalist Giulio De Benedetti; she died in 2006. From the end of the seventies Scalfari was romantically linked to Serena Rossetti, former editorial secretary of L'Espresso, whom he married after the death of his wife Simonetta.
Career
A law graduate with an interest in journalism and politics, Scalfari worked for the influential postwar magazines Il Mondo and L'Europeo. In 1955 he was among the founders of the Radical Party. In October 1955, jointly with Arrigo Benedetti he co-founded one of Italy's foremost newsmagazines L'Espresso with capital from the progressive industrialist Adriano Olivetti, manufacturer of Olivetti typewriters. The experienced Benedetti, who had directed the newsmagazine L'Europeo, was the first editor-in-chief until 1963, when he handed over to Scalfari. In January 1976 the Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso also launched the centre-left daily newspaperLa Repubblica in a joint venture with Arnoldo Mondadori Editore. Scalfari became the editor-in-chief and remained so until 1996. Few believed such a venture could succeed in the already crowded Italian newspaper market, but under Scalfari’s skilful editorship La Repubblica prospered to the point of rivaling the prestigious Corriere della Sera in both sales and status as a national daily. He remains active in both La Repubblica and L'Espresso. He has also published a number of books including l’Autunno della Repubblica and the novel Il Labirinto .
Notable reporting
As a journalist, he was especially active in investigative reporting, uncovering illegal right-wing activities and major government cover-ups. With Lino Jannuzzi he uncovered the attempted 1964 coup d'état by General Giovanni Di Lorenzo in May 1967. In July 2014, he reported, in an interview, Pope Francis's controversial statement that approximately 2% of the Catholic Church's total number of priests, including bishops and cardinals, were pedophiles. In 2018, Scalfari wrote an article related to his interview with Pope Francis stating that the pontiff made claims that hell did not exist. Scalfari later admitted that some words attributed to the pontiff "were not shared by Pope Francis" himself. Later in 2019, he wrote a further article related to Pope Francis, claiming that the pope "rejects the godly nature of Jesus Christ". This was denied by the Holy See, which said that "as already stated on other occasions, the words that Dr. Eugenio Scalfari attributes in quotation marks to the Holy Father during talks with him cannot be considered a faithful account of what was actually said but represent a personal and free interpretation of what he heard, as appears completely evident from what is written today regarding the divinity of Jesus Christ".
Scalfari described himself as libertarian, but also "liberal of social mold". He was pro-choice in the referendums of 1981. Later, Scalfari was critical of Silvio Berlusconi's political actions, but more moderate relative to the current positions of "La Repubblica".
Personal
He is an atheist. In 2013, he received a personal and detailed explanation from Pope Francis about atheism and forgiveness.
