Remembering Professor Giuseppe De Luca: A Legal Legend
It is always a sobering affair when we have to say farewell to someone who has shaped the very foundations of our system. Yesterday, we bid adieu to Professor Giuseppe De Luca, one of Italy’s most esteemed legal minds. At the ripe old age of 98, it seems he might have been too busy filing legal briefs to bother with mortality! An authoritative figure in Criminal Procedure, Professor De Luca was not just a man with a briefcase; he was the briefcase!
Teaching in prestigious institutions like Trieste, Bologna, and the esteemed Sapienza University of Rome, he was the kind of educator who probably had students looking forward to exams just for the chance to impress him. You see, Professor De Luca was not your average professor. He was the star of infamous trials like the Montesi case and the Vajont massacre. You could say his career had more twists and turns than a soap opera marathon.
A Century of Justice… and Style!
Can you imagine? A century of Italian history, and he was there, nearly always donning his toga. Yes, folks, toga! Forget the flashy suits; this was a man who believed that if you’re going to serve justice, you might as well do it in style. With elegance and refinement befitting a Renaissance painting, he approached every case with a high sense of ethics – a rare commodity these days, let’s be honest!
The late Professor found himself a confidant to everyone from Heads of State to ordinary citizens. Whether you were a big-shot entrepreneur or a humble plumber, everyone had an ear when Professor De Luca spoke. He treated all with respect, showing that in the courtroom – and in life – every person has the right to be heard. Some of us could take a page out of his book!
Family: The Real Trial of Life
In his passing, he leaves behind a beautiful legacy: his wife, two children, numerous grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Now, let’s take a moment to imagine family gatherings in the De Luca household. Picture it – “Look, Grandpa, did you win that case?” “No, my dear, but I did win the heart of your grandmother!” His son, Alessandro De Luca, is a renowned pianist, showing that the apples of the family tree fell in quite the artistic orchard!
Alessandro mentioned that his father had shared dozens of anecdotes about his illustrious career. Some were funny, others vastly significant, but alas, those stories would remain wrapped in the secrecy that many great legal minds treasure. Much like a good legal document, some stories are better left unfiled, it seems!
Final Thoughts
As the funeral takes place in the Stella Matutina Church in Rome, we reflect on the impact of a man who truly knew the weight of his toga. The legal community will no doubt feel his absence, but like a well-prepared student, we’ll take our notes and remember the lessons he imparted.
So here’s to Professor Giuseppe De Luca – a man who taught us that justice isn’t just about the law; it’s about humanity. Farewell, good sir. The courtroom will never be quite the same again!
Professor Giuseppe De Luca, one of the most authoritative jurists and lawyers in our country, passed away yesterday at the age of 98. He was one of the fathers of modern Criminal Procedure, a subject he taught in Trieste, Bologna and at the Sapienza University of Rome. He was the protagonist of hundreds of famous trials, from the Montesi case to Mani Pulite, through the Lockheed trial and the Vajont massacre. The funeral will be celebrated tomorrow, Wednesday 16 October, in Rome in the Stella Matutina Church, in via Lucilio 2.
He went through a century of Italian history almost always with his toga on his shoulders. With the elegance and refinement that only a high sense of ethics and a vast culture can provide. Professor Giuseppe De Luca passed away yesterday, with the respectful discretion he reserved for the people who knocked on his door during his career to have the comfort of a jurist above the parties. Heads of State, entrepreneurs, journalists, internationally renowned artists and ordinary citizens: for him they were all on the same level, with the same rights to be protected. He was 98 years old, leaves behind his wife, two children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And a wealth of memories that deserve to be revealed. «Especially in recent years, my father has told dozens of episodes that concerned his professional life, some funny, others more significant – says Alessandro De Luca, his son, who preferred to embrace an artistic career and today is a famous pianist – . But these are personal stories, which cannot be disclosed.”
