ROME, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Italy marked a day of national mourning on Monday, as private funerals were held for former president of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
Ciampi died on Friday at the age of 95, after a long illness. The former president had also served briefly as prime minister, as finance and treasure minister, and for long time as governor of Italy's central bank. He would be mostly remembered for the crucial role he played in bringing Italy into the European Union's (EU) single currency bloc in late 1990s.
The funeral ceremony took place in the Rome's neighborhood where Ciampi and his family lived. It was attended by top institutional figures, including current Italian President Sergio Mattarella, former president Giorgio Napolitano, the speakers of the lower and upper houses of the Italian parliament, and head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who was in New York to attend the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, had paid a visit to the burial chamber of the former head of state inside the senate late on Saturday. Hundreds of citizens had also queued outside the senate building in Rome to pay him a tribute.
Ciampi served as president of Italy from 1999 to 2006, as treasure and finance minister between 1996 and 1999, and as prime minister from 1993 to 1994. He had joined the central Bank of Italy soon after the Second World War in 1946, serving as governor between 1979 and 1993.
