Chief of Defense Staff of the Italian armed forces, Major General Claudio Graziano leaves after a visit to the national gendarmerie Carabinieri headquarters on Piazza Venezia in Rome on Nov. 5, 2018. (Credit: Laurent Emmanuel/AFP)
General Claudio Graziano, the former commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) from 2007 to 2010, was found dead at the age of 70 on Monday at his residence in Rome, according to an announcement by the Italian Embassy in Lebanon. The embassy did not provide details on the cause of death, but reports in Italian and French media have suggested that he may have taken his own life.
His body was discovered at home in Rome by a member of his security detail. Graziano had been appointed chairman of Fincantieri, Europe’s largest shipbuilder, two years ago.
Fincantieri CEO Pierroberto Folgiero noted that Graziano lost his wife last year to an illness, reported Reuters.
The former head of Lebanon’s General Security Directorate, General Abbas Ibrahim, paid tribute to Graziano, referring to him as “the first commander of UNIFIL after the July 2006 war” between Hezbollah and Israel – who have been in conflict again since the onset of the Gaza war. “Claudio, as you preferred to be called, I never thought the time would come when I would have to bid you farewell in such a painful manner,” wrote Ibrahim.
Former President Michel Sleiman, in office from 2008 to 2014, also reacted to the Italian general's death.
"I was happy to meet him every time, even after the end of my presidential term. May God grant him eternal rest and may we always remember him," he said in a statement.
A distinguished career
According to his biography on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) website, Graziano was born on Nov. 22, 1953. He began his military career in 1974 as an officer in the Alpini Hunters. He served in the “Tridentina” and “Taurinese” brigades before being promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1990, subsequently serving as the military assistant to the army’s chief of staff.
In 1992, Graziano commanded the Susa Alpini Battalion and was soon deployed to Mozambique to lead the United Nations Operation in Mozambique (UNOMOZ), heading the battalion responsible for the Beira corridor.
After commanding the 2nd Alpini Regiment for two years, Graziano joined the army’s general staff and was appointed military diplomat in Washington in 2001.
By March 2006, he was deputy chief of staff for operations at the Italian Joint Operations Headquarters (JOHQ). The following year, the U.N. secretary-general appointed him as head of mission and force commander of UNIFIL, a position he held from February 2007 to January 2010.
Graziano’s career continued to ascend as he was promoted to army corps general in February 2010 and became the chief of staff to the Italian defense minister. In 2011, he was appointed chief of staff of the Italian army, and, by Feb. 28, 2015, he had been promoted to general and served as chief of the Italian Defense General Staff.
He was awarded the National Order of the Cedar, Commander grade, by the Lebanese presidency.