Sardinian politics in mourning: Piero Testoni, in the front row with Forza Italia, has died

Sardinian politics bids farewell to Piero Testoni. A front-line man for Forza Italia throughout the Berlusconi era, the politician from Sassari came from journalism and was 73 years old. A long and difficult illness proved fatal to him, which he had dodged with the will to live that he always transmitted to those who had dealings with him. Editor of the Messaggero and the Corriere della Sera, he was the favorite nephew but also the biographer of Francesco Cossiga: in 2000 he co-wrote with the president the book-interview "La passione e la politica", published by Rizzoli. In 2001 he was elected deputy for Forza Italia, reconfirmed in 2006 and 2008. Three legislatures in which he had established himself, alongside Paolo Bonaiuti, as one of the key men in communication for president Silvio Berlusconi, as well as head of the publishing sector for Forza Italia. In 2013 he ended his political experience. "I lost a father," says Andrea Da Passano, his parliamentary assistant. "The experience with him was unparalleled: he opened the doors to two worlds for me, the Berlusconi one and the Cossighi one." (lo. pi.)