‘One of Italy’s greats’: maverick politician and activist Emma Bonino

The lift to Emma Bonino’s sixth-floor apartment in the heart of Rome travels up slowly, but the flat is well worth the wait. The door opens up directly on to a large terrace dotted with plants, which overlooks the rooftops of the Eternal City, its dozens of churches and orange palazzos. In the distance is St Peter’s Basilica, under blue skies and the late winter sun