Giulio Andreotti, the seven-time Italian prime minister whose legacy was marred by an indictment for collusion with the Mafia, has died. He was 94.
He died Monday at his home in Rome, the Associated Press reported, citing government officials. No cause was given. Andreotti was hospitalized last year with heart problems stemming from a respiratory infection, AP said.
In a political career that spanned six decades, Andreotti came to embody the highs and lows of Italian postwar politics. He was named a senator-for-life in 1991, before being implicated in the so-called Clean Hands corruption investigation and prior to standing trial for allegedly getting friends in the Sicilian Mafia to murder a journalist who wanted to discredit him.
"Power tires those who don't have it," Andreotti once said about his own endurance in Italy's rough-and-tumble political world.
A devout Catholic and former altar boy, Andreotti's career was inextricably linked to the Christian Democrats, the party that played a role in every post-World War II government until dissolving in July 1993 amid the Clean Hands probe. Milan prosecutors uncovered a network of illegal party financing that led to the demise of the Christian Democrats and Italy's Socialists, the other dominant party of the day.
Andreotti and the Christian Democrats helped Italy shed its Fascist legacy and transformed an economy devastated by World War II into one of the world's richest industrialized nations. During his 50-year-career, he held practically every ministerial post.
Andreotti was married to Livia Danese. They had four children.
Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press.