The socialist community and the Sicilian political world mourn the passing of Senator Francesco Cimino, a leading figure of reformist socialism and an authentic point of reference for the Messina area and for the entire Nebrodi area, who passed away in Patti, the city where he was born on 15 January 1933.
According to Antonio Matasso, regional secretary of the democratic socialists of SD, «during his three legislatures at Palazzo Madama, after an election to Parliament which crowned a long activity at the service of the institutions, comrade Ciccio Cimino offered his always authoritative contribution to the activity of the Senate of the Republic and to the national government, representing the demands of the South with balance and competence and committing himself to development policies that are truly attentive to the needs of local communities. In the Italian Socialist Party – recalls Matasso – he was the protagonist of a political season characterized by openness, dialogue and a reformist spirit, profoundly embodying the values of solidarity and social justice. He had begun his militancy in Riccardo Lombardi’s current, then joined Francesco De Martino’s group and finally found a very strong harmony with Bettino Craxi, which led to San Fratello, the town of origin of the family of the national secretary of the PSI and Prime Minister”.
The relationship with Craxi dates back to the times of university student spirit, in which the future senator Cimino distinguished himself as leader of the Italian Goliardic Union (UGI), an organization of which he was the point of reference in the University of Messina together with Giuseppe Loteta, who later became known as a journalist for “Il Messaggero”. Matasso also leaves room for some anecdotes: «once I went to visit him together with Peppino Loteta; there were also other long-time friends, all admired by his enthusiasm, his irony and his ability to create lasting bonds. In his Patti and in the Nebrodi, moreover, he had contributed to the cultural and civil growth of entire generations. We all owe him a lot. On that occasion he recounted a very funny episode: he was in his second legislature, which began in 1987, and in that year the “freshman” Umberto Bossi, at the time the only senator of the League, had crossed the threshold of Palazzo Madama for the first time. Everyone carefully avoided him and, in the rare cases in which he wasn’t snubbed, he still ended up being treated with disdain. No one wanted to sit with him at the refreshments of the Senate: although their respective political positions were very different, Senator Cimino was the only one who wanted to have lunch with Bossi, with whom a certain human sympathy was also born. In the end the “Senatùr“he often found himself in the car, traveling around Rome, with that learned Sicilian colleague, so proud of his Patte birthplace and of that ancient and cultured city to which he had dedicated his political teaching”.
Friend of the Christian Democrats Piersanti and Sergio Mattarella, as well as of Calogero Mannino, with whom he shared the battles in defense of Sicilian autonomy, the action in favor of territorial development also led Francesco Cimino to give impetus to the Tindari Nebrodi Intermunicipal Consortium, launching concrete initiatives of cultural, environmental and infrastructural valorisation, also anticipating a vision of integrated development that is more relevant today than ever. The former socialist regional councilor Turi Lombardo, who shared a long political and cultural path with the PSI exponent from Patte, recalls that «Cimino was an authentic socialist, capable of combining civil passion and institutional competence. In the national government he represented Sicily with clarity and courage, as undersecretary of Agriculture in the governments led by Giovanni Goria and Ciriaco De Mita, as well as in the sixth Andreotti government. Within the PSI he was a point of reference for rigor, loyalty and open-mindedness. His irony was a consequence of his intelligence, which was also expressed in his ability to build community and teach values through a smile. I lose a dear friend and companion. I believe – concludes Lombardo – that the entire community of Sicilian socialists will miss his clear and passionate figure.”
Senator Cimino’s funeral has been scheduled for Sunday 16 November at 3.30 pm in the square of the municipal cemetery of Patti.