by Anna Paola Merone
He was 92 years old and fell ill during a conference. He was the lawyer of Franco Califano, Diego Maradona, Ciriaco De Mita. Deputy for several legislatures, he was also a member of the CSM
Farewell to the lawyer Vincenzo Maria Siniscalchi, dean of Neapolitan criminal lawyers. He was 92 years old. He disappeared in the late afternoon of Monday 12 February during a public demonstration: Siniscalchi was among the protagonists of an Anpi conference organized by the Vomero-Arenella club and fell ill shortly after he spoke (photo below ). He was promptly helped but resuscitation measures proved useless. In his long career he was the lawyer of Diego Armando Maradona, Franco Califano, Tinto Brass as well as a member of the CSM. He was a deputy of the PDS and then of the DS for several legislatures. The first memory of him was that of the mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi: «A man of great culture and a fine jurist, Siniscalchi was able to be appreciated for his commitment to his professional and civil activity. As a member of the Superior Council of the Judiciary – he said – and Deputy for three legislatures, he contributed with his experience and sensitivity to the definition of legislative proposals in criminal matters. His commitment, expressed at the highest levels, not only marked his legal career, but was also the hallmark of civic and passionate participation in the public debate and in the life of the institutions of the country and of the city which we will miss.”
Eclectic, passionate about art, theatre, personal friend of Gigi Proietti, Vittorio Gassman, Rea, Compagnone, Pomilio, Prisco, Pier Paolo Pasolini and many other protagonists of the world of entertainment, he was “a son of art”, his father was the criminal lawyer Francesco Saverio Siniscalchi, and had also married a lawyer, Marinella de Nigris. He interpreted the profession with a brilliant and transversal attitude. At Federico II he was assistant in Roman law and criminal law, he was president of the Council of the Bar Association of Naples and of numerous international bodies. A publicist, he was a member of the executive board of the National Federation of the Italian Press and was a film critic and collaborated on the cultural pages of newspapers and magazines, also making an enthusiastic commitment on the cinematographic front, as an author of screenplays and consultant for films and fiction which stories set in the courtrooms.
Among his defenses are those in favor of the footballer Diego Armando Maradona in criminal and sports justice trials, of Franco Califano in the Cutolo-Tortora trial, of Gigi Sabani, of Tinto Brass, Michelangelo Antonioni, Vanessa Redgrave and numerous personalities from the world of entertainment and sport.
In the trial for the murder of Marta Russo he defended Salvatore Ferraro from the charge of aiding and abetting. In the 1970s he was involved in the defense of defendants for crimes related to the activities of the NAP (Proletarian Armed Nuclei) and Workers’ Autonomy, in particular the German citizen Petra Krause. In the 1980s he defended the politicians Ciriaco De Mita, Vincenzo Scotti, Antonio Cariglia (secretary of the PSDI) and in numerous other Tangentopoli trials. He has assisted numerous business groups, including Impregilo, Lega delle Cooperative, La Fondiaria Assicurazioni, Ansaldo. To his credit there are numerous publications and conference reports on the problems of defense in criminal trials, on freedom of the press and entertainment law, as well as those of a parliamentary political nature.
On 22 October 1995 in the by-elections of the Chamber of Deputies he was elected deputy with an RC-PDS coalition, he then joined the mixed group, but in February 1996 he moved to the Progressive Alliance. Re-elected in 1996 with the Democratic Party of the Left-Ulivo, and from 2001 to 2006 with the Democrats of the Left-Ulivo, always in the majority, he was elected president of the Committee for the authorizations to proceed of the Chamber. He was elected, as a member of the DS, as a lay member of the Superior Council of the Judiciary for the four-year period 2006-2010 with 710 votes in favor expressed by the Italian Parliament.
He was talking “about the Constitution and participation, topics that he was passionate about”, says the vice president of the Chamber Sergio Costa, who witnessed the illness of the 92-year-old lawyer live. He collapsed while taking part in the Anpi event in Naples. «I was with him and having experienced those moments was tragic. We hoped it was just an illness.”
There have been many expressions of condolence in these hours: from Pierferdinando Casini to Antonio Bassolino (“he died while speaking at an Anpi demonstration, like Enrico Berlinguer at a rally in Padua”), from Vincenzo De Luca to numerous other exponents of the centre-left, as well as the centre-right: from Fulvio Martusciello to Sergio Rastrelli.
Funeral on Wednesday at 11am, in the church of the Ascension in Chiaia.
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February 12, 2024 (modified February 12, 2024 | 10:24 pm)
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