Posted on 18 September 2020
The private papers of Emilio Colombo have arrived in Florence at the HAEU for treatment, inventorying and digitisation, following the signature in December 2019 of a cooperation agreement between the HAEU and the Luigi Sturzo Institute, where the papers have been deposited.
Colombo’s private papers are made up of 208 dossiers, 7 loose files, 16 photo albums, and a series of videotapes. The archives documents Colombo’s political activities at local, regional, national, European, and international level. In particular, the fonds sheds light on the strategies and objectives of Emilio Colombo’s European engagement as Italian Prime Minister from 1970 to 1972, Member of European Parliament (1976-1984 and 1989-1994), President of the European Parliament (1977-1979), and Foreign Minister of Italy (1980-1983 and 1992-1993). His contribution to Europe was recognized with the Charlemagne prize in 1979 and the gold medal of the Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe in 2011.
The papers have been deposited at the Istituto Luigi Sturzo and declared of considerable historical interest by the Archival Superintendency for Lazio in 2018. During the seminar ‘Emilio Colombo: Protagonist of Italian and European history of the twentieth century’, held at the Luigi Sturzo Institute, the fonds was presented to the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella and the cooperation signed between the Istituto Sturzo and the HAEU. Under the terms of the agreement, the fonds has now been temporarily transferred to Florence for its treatment, inventorying and digitisation. Once completed archival processing by the HAEU archivists, the Luigi Sturzo Institute will authorize the consultation of the documents, which will be made available in digital format both on the HAEU and the Luigi Sturzo Institute websites. The original papers will then be returned to their deposit at the Luigi Sturzo Institute in Rome, and a conference will be organized to present the fonds to the public.