Antonio Martino

Antonio Martino (born 22 December 1942) is an Italian politician, who was the minister of foreign affairs in 1994 and minister of defense from 2001 to 2006. He is a founding member of Forza Italia.

Antonio Martino
Minister of Defence
In office 11 June 2001 – 17 May 2006
Prime Minister	Silvio Berlusconi
Preceded by	Sergio Mattarella
Succeeded by	Arturo Parisi
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 10 May 1994 – 17 January 1995
Prime Minister	Silvio Berlusconi
Preceded by	Leopoldo Elia
Succeeded by	Susanna Agnelli
Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies
In office 10 April 1994 – 22 March 2018
Constituency	Sicily
Personal details
Born	22 December 1942 Messina, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	Italian Liberal Party (1968–1994) Forza Italia (1994–2009) The People of Freedom (2009–2013) Forza Italia (2013–present)
Spouse(s)	Carol Erickson
Alma mater	University of Messina, University of Chicago
Profession	Teacher, economist

Career

Born in Messina, he is the son of Gaetano Martino, former Foreign Minister and prominent member of the late Italian Liberal Party (PLI). In mid-the 1980s he was unsuccessful candidate for the post of PLI secretary. A member of the Italian Parliament, he was first elected in 1994, re-elected in 1996 and 2001.

Since 1992 and for many years, Martino has been a professor of Economics in the Political Science Department at the LUISS University of Rome (currently on Parliamentary leave). He is author of 11 books and over 150 papers and articles on economic theory and policy. He has been a frequent contributor to Italian and international magazines and newspapers (Il Giornale, for example), as well as Italian and international television and radio programs.

In 1988–1990, Martino was President of the Mont Pelerin Society, an international society of classical liberals, founded in 1947 by Nobel Prize Winner Friedrich A. Hayek. In the Nineties, he wrote a book in Italian language, Stato Padrone, where he explains his free-market ideas.

He was minister of Foreign Affairs in the first Berlusconi cabinet (1994–95) and minister of Defense when Berlusconi came back to power (2001–2006).

In 2004 he was the main promoter of the advance of the suspension of compulsory military service, formally decided already in 2001, but which was to begin in 2007: military service was thus suspended indefinitely from 1 January 2005 (Martino Law), also exempting all those who had obtained postponements for study or other reasons. In parallel, he promoted an acceleration in the development of the already present army of professional volunteers.

He is Secretary of the Scientific Committee of the Italy-USA Foundation.

External links

• Antonio Martino bio at History Commons

A. Martino, Stato Padrone, Sperling&Kupfer, Milan 1997.