Giorgio Napolitano, the first former Communist to rise to Italy's presidency, died on Friday, the Quirinal presidential palace said. Napolitano, who was also the first person to be elected twice to the mostly ceremonial presidency, was 98-years-old. A statement issued Friday night by the presidential palace confirmed Italian news reports of the death of Napolitano, who had been ailing in a Rome hospital for weeks.

The current president, Sergio Mattarella, in a message hailed his predecessor as head of state, saying that Napolitano's life "mirrored a large part of the history" of Italy in the second half of the 20th century. As a prominent member of what had long been the largest Communist party in the West, Napolitano had advocated positions that often veered from party orthodoxy.