1978 in Italy

Events during the year 1978 in Italy

Decades:

Incumbents

26 to 28 January – Sanremo Music Festival 1978: Matia Bazar band wins with the song "...e dirsi ciao".
31 January – Third Andreotti government falls after Italian Communist Party withdraws support.^[3]
13 March – Fourth Andreotti government formed (until March 1979).
16 March –
- Former prime minister Aldo Moro kidnapped – the apogee of Italy's Years of Lead.^[4]
- New Andreotti government obtains confidence vote.
7 May – 1977–78 Serie A ends: Juventus wins 18th title.
9 May – Moro's body was found in Rome.
13 May – Basaglia Law approved: gradual dismantling of psychiatric hospitals is initiated.^[5] The largest asylum was Mombello Psychiatric Hospital.
22 May – Law No. 194 is signed: Abortion in Italy becomes legal.
11 and 12 June – 1978 Italian referendums.
15 June – President Giovanni Leone resigns under pressure from Lockheed bribery scandal.
29 June to 8 July – 1978 Italian presidential election: President of the Chamber of Deputies Sandro Pertini was elected with 832 votes out of 1,011. He is president until 1985.
6 August – Pope Paul VI dies in Castel Gandolfo.
26 August – Cardinal Albino Luciani, the patriarch of Venice, elected pope – John Paul I. So far, 2026, last Italian pope.
21 September – The Tree of Wooden Clogs by Ermanno Olmi released.
28 September – Pope John Paul I dies in Apostolic Palace, Vatican City.
16 October – Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, the archbishop of Kraków, elected pope – John Paul II (until 2005).