Ciampi was born in Livorno on December 9, 1920. He is married and has two children. Despite his later job as a central banker, he received an education in the humanities and obtained his first degree in Italian literature from the University of Pisa. But during the war he changed academic direction, went back to university, and got a law degree in 1946. It was that same year that he joined the Bank of Italy, where he spent his entire career. In June 1960 he joined the research unit and became its director in 1970; in 1973 he became secretary-general, and in July 1976 deputy director-general. In July 1978 he became director-general (No.2) under governor Paolo Baffi, and replaced Baffi a year later.

Ciampi manned the currency helm from the lira's entry into the EMS in 1979 until its forced exit 13 years later, during the Amato premiership. All the while, his annual reports from the central bank provided key suggestions for economic and monetary policy. Moving Italy closer to Europe and EMU was always a prime concern.

In one of his most recent public statements, Ciampi stressed the need to press on with privatizations -- stalled over the last two years -- reduce the deficit, and relaunch an incomes policy based on three-way bargaining between government, unions and employers, in harmony with the landmark July 1993 accord which was one of the biggest feathers in his premier's cap.

Progress on privatizations was another achievement of Ciampi's premiership, with the sale of the Credito Italiano and Banca Commerciale Italiana banks, as well as a first slice of Imi, the investment bank. The government also determined the future shareholding structure of the telecoms group Stet, as a public company with a stable nucleus of big institutional shareholders.

His nomination was considered a strong signal that the government intends to pursue fiscal rigor and hold the line on inflation.