Emma Bonino, radical reformer who reshaped Italian society, dies at 78

Emma Bonino, the radical Italian politician who defied the Vatican to lead the campaigns that legalised abortion and divorce in Italy, has died at the age of 78.

Her party, More Europe (+Europa), announced her death on Friday 11 September 2026, describing her as one of the most "clear-sighted, courageous and free figures" in the country's modern political history.

Bonino died in Rome following a long illness. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2015 and, although she announced she was in complete remission in 2023, she had suffered severe, recurring respiratory issues ever since. News of her death reached the Italian Senate during a debate on electoral reform, prompting politicians to temporarily suspend the session for a minute of silence.

Tributes have come from across the political spectrum. Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, acknowledged that while their backgrounds and beliefs were vastly different, she had always respected Bonino's significance and her role in public life.

How did Emma Bonino change Italy?

Born in the Piedmontese town of Bra in 1948, Bonino’s political awakening came at the age of 26 when she had an illegal abortion in 1974. The experience left her determined to protect other women from the same humiliation.

Rather than keep the procedure secret, she co-founded an information centre on abortion, performed procedures using basic household equipment, and turned herself in to the police to provoke a public trial. Her deliberate act of civil disobedience made national headlines, forcing a deeply conservative and Roman Catholic nation to confront the reality of clandestine abortions. The campaign she helped drive led to the legalisation of abortion in Italy in 1978.

In 1976, she was elected to parliament for the first time as a member of the small, relentless Radical Party. She immediately established herself as an unconventional force, arriving at the Chamber of Deputies wearing a long flowered skirt, wooden clogs, and holding a cigarette.

Her global campaigns and political offices

While she remained a household name in Italy for her domestic activism, Bonino also built an international reputation.

Between 1995 and 1999, she served as European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid. In this role, she travelled to active conflict zones, including Bosnia and Rwanda, and was an early, vocal proponent of establishing the International Criminal Court.

She later served as Italy's minister for international trade, EU affairs minister, and, in 2013, as foreign minister under Enrico Letta. Throughout her life, she remained a passionate supporter of European integration and a fierce defender of the rights of refugees and migrants.

An unlikely friendship

Despite her lifelong secularism and her public clashes with the Catholic Church over reproductive rights and euthanasia, Bonino formed an unexpected bond with Pope Francis.

The Pope visited her at her Rome home in late 2024 following a period in intensive care. Bonino later shared that Francis had encouraged her to keep fighting her humanitarian battles, telling her with good-natured irony to "hold on" because "bad weeds never die."

Bonino remained active in public life until her final months, serving as president of More Europe, the pro-European party she co-founded. She is survived by her sister Domenica, her brother Giovanni, and their families.