Gherardo Colombo

After obtaining his classical secondary-school diploma, he enrolled at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, where he graduated in law in 1969, defending his thesis with Professor Franco Cordero. In 1974 – after having worked for RAS as a supervisor – he entered the judiciary and, from 1975 to 1978, served as a judge in the hearings of the Seventh Criminal Division of the Court of Milan. From 1978 to 1989 he was an investigating magistrate and, in the context of the inquiry into the Ambrosoli murder, in particular during the investigations into the fake Sindona kidnapping, together with his colleague Giuliano Turone he ordered the search of all the known addresses of Licio Gelli, “venerable master” of the P2 Masonic lodge. The operation took place on 17 March 1981 both at the Villa Wanda in Arezzo, owned by Gelli, and at a hidden address of his, noted in a small diary seized from Sindona shortly before: an office made available to him at Castiglion Fibocchi, in the province of Arezzo, by the firm Giole of the Lebole group. The search produced a sensational result only in this last office, where it led to the discovery of the list of nearly a thousand members of the P2 lodge, as well as 33 sealed envelopes containing documentation concerning operations of enormous national importance managed by the secret lodge through non-transparent channels, evading all institutional and public scrutiny. From 1987 to 1989 he was part of the commission that examined the material concerning important trials against organised crime; the analysis of those proceedings was set within the reform of the Code of Criminal Procedure by the Ministry of Grace and Justice. From 1987 to 1990 he took part as an observer – on behalf of the International Society of Social Defence – in the commission of experts for international cooperation in the tracing and confiscation of illicit profits. From 1989 to 1992 he was a consultant to the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into terrorism in Italy, and in 1993 he was a consultant to the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the Mafia. From 1989 he was a public prosecutor at the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Milan. His contribution to the investigations and trials of the Mani pulite (Clean Hands) operation was fundamental. In March 2005 he was appointed Counsellor at the Court of Cassation. In mid-February 2007, by chance coinciding with the fifteenth anniversary of the start of the Mani pulite inquiry, he announced his resignation from the judiciary in a letter to the Superior Council of the Judiciary and to the Ministry of Justice. Since then he has devoted himself to education in legality in schools, through meetings with students all over Italy, and precisely for this activity he received the 2008 National Culture of Peace Prize. In September 2009 he was appointed chairman of the publishing house Garzanti Libri. He is an Honorary Member of the Honorary Scientific Committee of the Rachelina Ambrosini Foundation. On 24 October 2010 he founded, together with some friends, the association Sulleregole (www.sulleregole.it), which works free of charge in the field of education in legality, in spreading knowledge of the Italian Constitution, in volunteering in prisons, and in the training of teachers. On 5 July 2012 he was elected to the Board of Directors of Rai on the recommendation of civil-society associations, to whom the Democratic Party had entrusted the choice. The election was carried out by the Rai supervisory committee. He left the office in August 2015. He is a member of the ethics committee of the Umberto Veronesi Foundation and of the Advisory Board of Transparency International Italia. He is an ATS volunteer at the Third Wing of the San Vittore Prison in Milan. He is Coordinator of the Committee for legality, transparency and efficiency of the public administration of the City of Milan. He is chairman or member of several supervisory bodies. He is chairman of the public body Cassa delle Ammende. He is an ambassador for the Ancora ONLUS Association for the care and relief of the sick and their families. In 2016 he received the Passaggi Prize, awarded by the Passaggi Festival to figures who have distinguished themselves through their work in non-fiction or through their moral standing. In April 2020 he joined the commission of inquiry of the City of Milan into the suspicious deaths at the Pio Albergo Trivulzio linked to the Coronavirus emergency. He founded the NGO Resq People Saving People. On 11 May 2022, at Palazzo Marino in Milan, he was awarded the Premio Campione, the recognition of the City Angels, for his social commitment with Resq People and for his work in favour of promoting the values of legality and of the Italian Constitution.