Former Italian foreign minister Emma Bonino dies aged 78

Emma Bonino, the former Italian foreign minister and European commissioner whose civil-rights campaigns helped reshape Italian politics, has died aged 78. Her party, More Europe, announced her death on 11 September 2026, according to The Guardian.

Bonino became a leading figure in campaigns to legalise abortion and divorce in Italy, challenging the Vatican’s opposition. Her activism brought her into parliament with the Radical Party and remained central to a political career spanning more than five decades.

She later held ministerial posts covering foreign affairs, trade and European affairs, as well as serving in the European Commission. She remained an advocate of European integration and the rights of refugees and migrants.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni paid tribute to Bonino’s role in public life while acknowledging their political differences, The Guardian reported. More Europe remembered her commitment to individual freedom and humanitarian causes.

Bonino’s career connected parliamentary politics with sustained campaigning on issues including hunger, female genital mutilation and opposition to authoritarianism. Her death removes one of Italy’s most recognisable voices on civil liberties.