Emma Bonino, a prominent Italian politician and tireless defender of human rights, has died in Rome at the age of 78. A historic figure of the Italian Radical Party, she was described by the party she founded, More Europe, as one of the most clear-sighted, courageous, and free figures in the political history of the country.
Bonino's political life began in 1974 with an act that was then a crime, when she travelled to a clandestine clinic in Florence to terminate an unplanned pregnancy. She rose to prominence leading campaigns by the Radical Party in the 1970s to legalize abortion and divorce in heavily Roman Catholic Italy, acting against the objections of the Vatican.
Over her career, Bonino served in the Italian and European parliaments and held several ministerial roles in center-left governments, serving as foreign minister, trade minister, and EU affairs minister. She also served as a European commissioner, with a political journey that spanned from the fight for women's rights to a lasting commitment to Europe and human rights.