Andrea Purgatori
| Andrea Purgatori | |
|---|---|
Purgatori in Fascisti su Marte (2006)
| |
| Born | 1 February 1953 Rome, Italy |
| Died | 19 July 2023 (aged 70) Rome, Italy |
| Occupations | Author journalist screenwriter actor television presenter |
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Spouse | Nicola Schmitz (m. 1992, divorced) |
| Partner | Errica Dall'Ara |
Andrea Purgatori (1 February 1953 – 19 July 2023) was an Italian journalist, writer, screenwriter, television presenter and occasional actor.
Life and career
Born in Rome, in 1974 Purgatori started his career as a journalist, and in 1976 he began a long collaboration with the newspaper Corriere della Sera, in which he served as an investigative journalist and a war correspondent.[1] He later collaborated with other publications, including Le Monde diplomatique, The Huffington Post, Vanity Fair and L'Unità.[2]
As a screenwriter Purgatori's credits include several Marco Risi's films, notably The Rubber Wall (1991), based on his own investigation about the Ustica affair, and Fort Apache Napoli (2010), about the murder of journalist Giancarlo Siani, as well as films by Giuliano Montaldo, Michele Placido, Carlo Verdone, Alessandro Di Robilant.[1][2] He was also an occasional actor, mainly in projects involving comedian Corrado Guzzanti, with whom he also collaborated as a writer in a number of television and stage projects.[2][3] In 2001, he received the prize "Archivio Disarmo - Golden Doves for Peace" from IRIAD.[4]
From 2017, Purgatori wrote and hosted the program Atlantide on La7; in 2019, the program was awarded the Flaiano Prize for best cultural television show.[1] In 2022, he appeared prominently in the Netflix documentary series Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi.[5] He was also an essayist, and in 2019 he made his debut as a novelist with Quattro piccole ostriche.[6]
An environmental activist, Purgatori served as president of the Italian branch of Greenpeace from 2014 to 2020.[1][7] He died in Rome, on 19 July 2023, at the age of 70.[8] Purgatori was the father of the actor Edoardo Purgatori and was a fan of the Serie A club A.S. Roma.[2][9]
He considered himself a "dubious believer".[10]
Death
Purgatori died at the age of 70 on 19 July 2023,[11] two months after being diagnosed with a serious form of brain cancer.[12] The day after his death, to ascertain the appropriateness of the treatment the journalist had been subjected to, his family filed a complaint with the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office, which opened an investigation for culpable homicide against the doctors.[13][14] The post-mortem carried out the following September confirmed the absence of metastases in the brain at the time of death.[15] and an expert report ordered by the prosecutor's office in April 2024 traced the causes of death back to unrecognized infective endocarditis, for which antibiotics would have sufficed instead of the radiotherapy he was subjected to.[16] In March 2025, a request was made to send four doctors — a cardiologist, a radiologist, and two of his assistants — to trial on charges of manslaughter.[17]
Filmography
Screenwriting credits
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Specters | |
| 1989 | Maya | |
| 1990 | Panama Sugar | |
| 1991 | The Rubber Wall | |
| 1992 | Nel continente nero | |
| 1994 | Law of Courage | |
| 1995 | State Secret | |
| 1998 | Last Cut | |
| Vite blindate | Television film | |
| 1999 | Fine secolo | Miniseries |
| 2000 | Sospetti | TV series (season 1) |
| 2001 | L'attentatumi | |
| 2003–2010 | Un caso di coscienza | TV series (co-writer) |
| 2006 | Il fantasma di Corleone | |
| Attacco allo Stato | Television film | |
| Fratelli | ||
| 2006–2007 | Nati ieri | TV series (co-writer) |
| 2008 | Caravaggio | Television film |
| Il bambino della domenica | ||
| 2010 | Angel of Evil | |
| 2011 | The Entrepreneur | |
| 2012 | Inspector Nardone | TV series |
| 2013 | Cha cha cha | |
| 2015 | Ragion di Stato | Television film |
| 2016 | Lampedusa - Dall'orizzonte in poi | Miniseries |
| 2022 | Vatican Girl: La scomparsa di Manuela Orlandi | Docuseries |
Acting roles
| Year | Title | Role(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | The Rubber Wall | Journalist | Cameo appearance |
| 2001 | Three Wives | Beatrice's friend | Cameo appearance |
| 2006 | Fascisti su Marte | Fecchia | |
| 2008, 2022 | Boris | Lawyer Kalemzuck | TV series (4 episodes) |
| 2010 | Due vite per caso | Lawyer | Cameo appearance |
| 2012 | A Flat for Three | Claudio Romeres | |
| 2016 | Ears | Otolaryngologist | |
| 2016 | The Big Score | Theatre man | Cameo appearance |
| 2017 | 1993 | Niccolò Pizzetti | TV series (3 episodes) |
| 2018 | Just Believe | Rabbi | |
| 2022 | Vatican Girl: La scomparsa di Manuela Orlandi | Himself | Docuseries |
| The Bad Guy | Himself | TV series (episode "Pilot") | |
| 2024 | Flaminia | Mr. De Rotier |
References
- Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 Back to citation occurrence 1.2 Back to citation occurrence 1.3 "Purgatori, Andrea". Enciclopedia Treccani (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- Back to citation occurrence 2.0 Back to citation occurrence 2.1 Back to citation occurrence 2.2 Back to citation occurrence 2.3 "Morto Andrea Purgatori, giornalista d'inchiesta e conduttore di Atlantide". Il Sole 24 Ore (in Italian). 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- Back to citation Parrella, Andrea (19 July 2023). "Corrado Guzzanti saluta Andrea Purgatori: "Uno dei miei più cari amici, compagno di molte follie"". Fanpage (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- Back to citation "Golden Doves for Peace". www.archiviodisarmo.it. Retrieved 2025-04-29.
- Back to citation ""Vatican girl", la docuserie sul caso Orlandi con Purgatori: "Quelle attenzioni da un prelato"". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- Back to citation ""Quattro piccole ostriche", Andrea Purgatori e la spy story dell'estate". Il Messaggero (in Italian). 28 June 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- Back to citation "Morte Andrea Purgatori, quando da presidente di Greenpeace invitò Renzi sulla Rainbow Warrior nel 2014". La Repubblica (in Italian). 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- Back to citation "Andrea Purgatori, addio a un grande giornalista". Oggi (in Italian). 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- Back to citation "ADDIO ANDREA PURGATORI: CRONISTA DI RAZZA E ROMANISTA VERO" (in Italian). 19 July 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
- Back to citation Giordano, Lucio (4 August 2023). "Addio Andrea, la tua scomparsa è avvolta nel mistero come le vicende dei tuoi servizi in TV". Dipiù (in Italian). No. 31. pp. 14–17.
- Back to citation "Morto Andrea Purgatori, il giornalista che voleva la verità su Ustica". La Repubblica. 2023-07-19.
- Back to citation "Andrea Purgatori, aperta una inchiesta per omicidio colposo. La famiglia: "Cure sbagliate"". 2023-07-20.
- Back to citation "La Procura di Roma apre un'inchiesta sulla morte di Purgatori - Notizie - Ansa.it" (in Italian). Agenzia ANSA. 2023-07-20. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- Back to citation "Per la morte di Andrea Purgatori altri due medici indagati". RaiNews.
- Back to citation "Morte Purgatori, dagli esami non emergono metastasi a cervello". ANSA. 2023-09-28.
- Back to citation "Così è morto Andrea Purgatori. I periti: «I medici gli fecero radioterapia e terapia anticoagulante inutilmente, bastava un antibiotico»". Corriere della Sera. 2023-04-07.
- Back to citation "Morte Andrea Purgatori, chiesto processo per quattro medici". Rainews (in Italian). 2025-03-18.
External links
- Andrea Purgatori at IMDb