ROME, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Enzo Biagi, who was known as "the dean of Italian journalism," died Tuesday of heart failure at the age of 87.
Known for his watchwords "curiosity and accuracy," Biagi penned articles for national magazines and newspapers, managed and presented the country's top TV news program and created topical and investigative shows during a career that spanned six decades, ANSA noted.
Upon hearing news of Biagi's death, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano declared, "A great voice of freedom has gone," while Premier Romano Prodi called Biagi "a historical figure in journalism who always fought to safeguard freedom of information."
The Italian journalists' union, FNSI, added, "Enzo Biagi will stay in the hearts of all the journalists and millions of Italians who appreciated his capacity for analysis, his simplicity of language and his uncommon integrity."
Biagi was a widower whose wife, Lucia, died in February 2002. He was predeceased by his 47-year-old daughter, Anna, the following year.
He is survived by two other daughters, Bice and Carla.
