Sassoli died Tuesday morning in an Aviano hospital, his spokesman told dpa.On Monday, the EU parliament revealed he was hospitalized in Italy on Dec. 26 “for a major immune system complication.”
In September, he was hospitalized with pneumonia.
Illness forced him to miss the legislature's October session.
The Aviano Centro di Riferimento Oncologico did not respond to inquiries Tuesday morning.
Last month, Sassoli told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera he will not run for re-election in early 2022.
His representative tweeted that the funeral time and location would be confirmed soon.
“Ciao David, a lifelong friend,” Italy's Culture Minister Dario Franceschini tweeted first.
A former journalist, Sassoli had served in the EU assembly for almost ten years.
Sassoli was a Social Democratic Party (PDS) member (PD).
He took over as President of the European Parliament in July 2019, replacing his conservative compatriot Antonio Tajani.
Prior to that, he served as vice president of the European Parliament from 2014 to 2019 and as a representative of then-President Martin Schulz from 2014 to 2017.
He began his career in journalism at minor papers before joining the Rome daily Il Giorno in 1985.
Sassoli later went to TV.
Sassoli is well-known in Italy due to his job as a news presenter on RAI.
He criticized numerous EU member states' migration policy and frequently defended migrants.
Migration is a hot topic in Italy, especially amongst left and right parties, as many migrants arrive by boat to enter the EU.
Sassoli was a progressive Catholic.
His party claims he was a Boy Scout and a member of Catholic youth groups.
He was married and had two children.
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