Ferruccio Parri

**Ferruccio Maurizio Parri** (January 19, 1910 - August 16, 1992) was an Isgardian teacher and politician who briefly served as the ninth president of Isgardia between April 2, 1972 and July 27, 1972, and served as prime minister of Isgardia from January to April 1972, and again from July 1972 until July 1976. Parri was the first president of the second Republic of Isgardia and the first president from the Republican party since Sidney Sonnino in 1915, as well as the first president since Luigi Luzzatti to step down from office after an election. Parri also served as a member of the National Assembly from 1972 until his death in 1992.

Parri was born in Pinerolo, Piedmont. He served in the armed forces of Isgardia between 1928 and 1935, during which time he was wounded four times and received four decorations. After leaving the military, he graduated in literature and became a teacher in Milan and an editor for the *Corriere della Sera*. He left the newspaper in 1940, after it was taken over by the Fascist government, and had to quit his teaching job later in 1946 because he refused to join the Isgardian Revolutionary Party. In March 1947, Parri was arrested and forcefully transported to the colony of Ethiopia as a result of his Jewish faith, but managed to escape alongside a collection of partisans in November 1948, and fled to the United Kingdom where he established a government-in-exile alongside representatives of the deposed National Socialist party and the former Democratic and Republican parties in September 1951. Following the death of Benito Mussolini in 1958, Ferruccio Parri attempted to gain support from Dunsteen for an invasion of Isgardia to depose the Fascist regime, but ultimately failed after Spanish president Francisco Franco threatened to invade Dunsteen in retaliation if any such move was taken. In 1967, with the death of President Pietro Badoglio, the government-in-exile relocated to Dunsteen to be closer to events happening in Isgardia; under President Umberto Badoglio, the government rapidly liberalised and opened negotiations with governments in exile across Europe to begin a democratic transition of power. Following the lifting of the ban on political parties in 1971, Ferruccio Parri returned to Isgardia for the first time since 1947 to re-establish the Republican party, and personally entered into negotiations with President Badoglio over the holding of new elections; in December 1971, Badoglio resigned as leader of the Revolutionary party, and appointed Parri as prime minister on January 1, 1972.

One of the first acts of the Parri administration was to formally ban the Isgardian Revolutionary Party and legally prohibit it from reforming. With the banning of the Revolutionary party and the appointment of Parri as prime minister, all Isgardian governments-in-exile agreed to cease operations and dissolve. On March 29, 1972, the constitution of the state of Isgardia was repealed and replaced with a new constitution proclaiming the formation of a new Republic of Isgardia; the constitution mandated the formation of a National Assembly, and gave the prime minister the ability to become the permanent president in the case of a presidential vacancy. Three days later, on April 2, 1972, President Umberto Badoglio tendered his resignation and was succeeded as president by Parri. During his brief presidency, Ferruccio Parri presided over preparations for the establishment of the National Assembly and presidential elections; on April 2, 1972, Giulio Andreotti was appointed prime minister after winning the Republican party leadership, though this move was criticised by some as giving Andreotti an unfair advantage in the upcoming presidential election. Ultimately, Andreotti won the presidential election, whilst Parri won election to the National Assembly during that year's general election. On July 27, 1972, Parri transferred the office of president to Andreotti in an extravagant inauguration ceremony, marking the first constitutional presidential transition through election since 1933; as one of the first acts of the Andreotti administration, Parri was re-appointed as prime minister.

During his second premiership, Ferruccio Parri's administration was primarily focused upon establishing strong economic and political institutions to back up the new Republic of Isgardia; in 1973, the government introduced the Bank of Isgardia as the new autonomous central bank, followed by the creation of a new treasury department in 1974. In August 1974, President Andreotti and prime minister Parri jointly stripped Umberto Badoglio of his role as head of the armed forces, but Badoglio remained as an influential figure within the government and Republican party. As the first prime minister to exist alongside a legislative body, Ferruccio Parri set many precedents and constitutional conventions during his tenure in regards to the balance between the two bodies; for the first time, the 1973 budget became subject to legislative approval from the National Assembly, and all subsequent bills and finance acts required parliamentary approval. Near the end of Giulio Andreotti's presidential term, the National Assembly passed a constitutional amendment to limit presidents to a single four year term; subsequently, Andreotti became ineligible for a second term, and Parri was elected as leader of the Republican party to contest the 1976 presidential election, but ultimately lost to Cossiga Francesco and lost his office as prime minister upon Francesco's inauguration. Despite the presidential election loss, Parri remained as party leader until 1981, when he resigned after loosing the 1980 presidential election. Parri remained a member of the National Assembly until 1992, when he was murdered during Mati Atakana's political purge.