Barbara Spinelli died on 7 October 2026 at age 80 at the Villa del Rosario clinic in Rome, with a private funeral planned.
Spinelli co-founded daily newspaper La Repubblica in 1976 and reported as a correspondent from Paris and Brussels before joining Il Fatto Quotidiano in 2016.
Elected in 2014 with over 36,700 preferences for L'Altra Europa con Tsipras, she sat as an independent MEP in GUE/NGL from May 2015 until 2019.
She was the daughter of Ventotene Manifesto co-author Altiero Spinelli and anti-fascist activist Ursula Hirschmann, and the partner of Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa.
Barbara Spinelli died on 7 October 2026 in Rome at the age of 80. European Parliament sources in Strasbourg and her family confirmed her death on Wednesday morning. Her family expressed gratitude to the medical team led by Professor Cortesi at the Villa del Rosario clinic in Rome. A private funeral service will be held according to her family's wishes.
“A heartfelt thanks to Professor Cortesi, his staff, and all the personnel of the Villa del Rosario clinic for their loving care and great professionalism. The family thanks everyone who loved and esteemed her.”
Born in Rome in May 1946, Spinelli established herself across five decades as an essayist, commentator, and foreign affairs analyst. In 1976, she was among the co-founders of the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica. Over subsequent decades, she worked as a foreign correspondent based in Paris and Brussels, reporting on international relations and European politics. Her commentary appeared in leading Italian publications, including Corriere della Sera and La Stampa. Beginning in 2016, she contributed regular columns on international affairs to Il Fatto Quotidiano.
Spinelli entered institutional politics following decades of analytical commentary in the press. In 2013, she joined figures from the political periodical MicroMega to contest the parliamentary eligibility of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Ahead of the 2014 European elections, she co-founded the left-wing electoral alliance L'Altra Europa con Tsipras. Running in the Central Italy constituency, she secured a seat in the European Parliament after winning more than 36,700 preferential votes.
In May 2015, Spinelli departed the Tsipras list following internal disagreements and served the remainder of her term as an independent member within the European United Left-Nordic Green Left group (GUE/NGL). Throughout her mandate, which concluded in 2019, she worked on issues concerning European Union institutions, fundamental rights, and foreign policy. The European Parliament delegation of Italy's Five Star Movement issued a statement reflecting on her work following the announcement of her death.
“We learn with sadness and grief of the passing of Barbara Spinelli. For us, she was a friend and a colleague who guided and advised us on numerous occasions, first as a Member of the European Parliament and then as an editorialist and intellectual. With her voice, often critical and always recognizable, Barbara Spinelli kept attention high on the values of peace, social justice, and European integration. We send our condolences and closeness to her family. We will miss Barbara very much.”
Spinelli was shaped by a household central to the development of the European federalist movement. Her father, Altiero Spinelli, was an anti-fascist political theorist who spent 10 years imprisoned by the Italian fascist regime and co-authored the 1941 Ventotene Manifesto before becoming a founding figure of the European Union. Her mother, Ursula Hirschmann, was a German-Jewish anti-fascist activist and prominent advocate for European federalism. Spinelli was also the longtime partner of the late Italian economist and minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, maintaining that philosophical legacy throughout her public life.
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Italian journalist, author, and former Member of the European Parliament Barbara Spinelli has died in Rome at the age of 80, her family and European parliamentary sources announced on Wednesday.
AI text based on reports by ANSA.it, Adnkronos, Tgcom24 and other publishers. Published .