Fabio Roversi Monaco, jurist and former rector of the University of Bologna, has died

Born in Addis Ababa on 18 December 1938, he graduated in law in Bologna in 1962 and obtained his teaching qualification in 1967. From 1972 to 2012 he was full professor first of constitutional law (until 1975) and then of administrative law at the University of Bologna.

During his mandate as Rector, has promoted initiatives of international importanceincluding the Magna Carta Universitatum signed by over 400 Rectors (1988) and the Bologna Process which found fulfillment in the participation of twenty-nine European Education Ministers, meeting in Bologna in 1999 for the qualitative comparability of educational qualifications of the various countries and the free movement of European students and graduates. The meetings led to the drafting of the “Bologna Declaration”, signed by 29 European countries on 19 June 1999. Rector Roversi Monaco was also responsible for the structuring of the Multicampus, unique in Italy, which guaranteed the harmonious expansion of the University and its rooting in the territory.

From 2000 to 2013 he was president of the Cassa di Risparmio Foundation in Bologna; from 2013 to 2016 he was president of Banca Imi, of which he then assumed the vice-presidency. He was also president of the city museum-Genus Bononiae; from 2001 to 2003 he was managing director of the Treccani Italian Encyclopedia Institute. From 1978 to 2006 he was director of Spisa – School of Specialization in Public Administration Studies of the Alma Mater, where he promoted the first Master’s for corporate lawyers in our country and the first School of Specialization in Health Law.

In 2015 he created the Medical Science Festival and was a member of the scientific committee of numerous scientific journals (he was the founder and director of the journal “Sanità Pubblica e Privata”).

In addition to the honorary Doctorate in Medicine and Surgery from the Alma Mater, Professor Roversi Monaco was awarded an Honorary Degree by over 20 universitiesincluding the Dickinson College of Carlyle, the Brown University of Providence, the Complutense University of Madrid, the Panthèon 1 – Sorbonne University of Paris (Paris 1), the Johns Hopkins University of Baltimore, the Soka University of Tokyo, the Universidad Externado de Colombia, the University of Saint Petersburg, the University of Barcelona, the Pontificia Universidad Cattolica of Belo Horizonte, the University of Salta, the University of Montreal, the University of Denver, the Victoria University of Melbourne, the University of Trieste, the State University of Samarcanda, the “Gabriele d’Annunzio” University of Chieti and Pescara.

He was awarded the title of Knight Grand Cross of the Italian RepublicKnight of the Lègion d’Honneur by the President of the French Republic, Knight of the Civil Order of Savoy, of the “Ordem de Sant’Iago de Espada” of the Republic of Portugal, Knight Grand Cross of Alfonso X the Wise by the King of Spain, Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary.

“With the passing of Fabio Roversi Monaco,” he declared the Rector Giovanni Molari – the University of Bologna loses one of its most authoritative and representative figures. During his long rectorship, he was able to guide the University with vision, determination and a profound sense of institutions, contributing decisively to its international development. On behalf of the entire university community, I express my deepest condolences and gratitude for the cultural and institutional legacy he leaves.”

The academic funerals will be held on Monday 30 March, at 12 pm, in the Aula Magna of Santa Lucia. The funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday 30 March, at 2.30 pm, in the Cathedral of San Pietro in Bologna, presided over by Archbishop Matteo Maria Zuppi, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference.