Domenico Benficalzo
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| Rank | 31st senior deputy prime minister of Pacitalia |
| Term of office | 1st February — 5th August, 2006 |
| Predecessor: | Dr. Adrian Copilul-Minune |
| Successor: | Diego Zuna |
| Date of birth | 29th August 1960 |
| Date of death | 5th August 2006 |
| Place of birth | Nortopalazzo, Antigonia, Pacitalia |
| Place of death | Fauxhan, Bazalonia |
| Widowed spouse | Maria Andrea Benficalzo |
| Children | Paolo, 9 |
| Profession | Urban planner, politician |
| Political party | Federation of Progressive Democrats (FPD) |
| Languages spoken | Pacitalian, English, Ligurian |
| Degrees |
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The Right Honourable Signore Domenico Marcelo Ando Benficalzo, M.Sc.(ArD), M.Sc.(Urb), (29th August 1960 - 5th August 2006) was the thirty-first senior deputy prime minister of Pacitalia, appointed to the cabinet of Constantino Sorantanali on Wednesday, 1st February, 2006. In that position he became deputy leader of the governing Federation of Progressive Democrats. Benficalzo was, up to his suicide, an accomplished urban planner who, as Minister of Transportation in the province of Sambuca from 1995 to 2003, revitalised the road and public transport network in the province.
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As minister of transportation in Sambuca (1995-2003)
Benficalzo was the primary force behind the redevelopment of the "Circudisa" highway (Circumferati di Sambuca), a poorly-designed and poorly-maintained ring road around Pacitalia's fourth-largest city from the Papistikas era. The Circudisa was reopened in 1998 under Benficalzo's watch as provincial transportation minister, and has since become one of the key components of the Sambucan transpogrid. Benficalzo was also responsible for the improvements to the public transportation systems in Sambuca and Fomanunta, and improving the secondary road network between the two cities that form crucial parts of the Pacitalian economy.
As deputy premier of Sambuca (1999-2005)
For the 1999-2003 provincial administration, Benficalzo assumed the additional duty of deputy premier under Mr Sorantanali. The two men were lauded around the country for being "a tag team of democracy"(1) among other things, and their close relationship was remarkable because it failed to hinder the progress of their legislation. The two men were hugely respected by 2002, and in order to protect the integrity of Sambucan democracy, he and Sorantanali agreed to relieve Benficalzo of the transportation duty while Sorantanali prepared to make a run at the emergent leadership of the federal FPD.
In late 2005, Sorantanali announced his intention to run and he resigned his government, calling an immediate provincial election. After winning the FPD leadership, Sorantanali announced his candidacy for the FPD nomination in Sambuca South-Central while Benficalzo also announced he would run federally, seeking the FPD nomination in Sambuca-West. The two men were both successful in their bids for their constituencies, elected by wide margins. Speculation about Benficalzo earning a cabinet position(2) increased in the days following the election on 25th January 2006, which culminated with the accomplished former minister of transportation and deputy premier's being named to the position of senior deputy prime minister.
Philanthropy
Benficalzo was of the old money social hierarchy of the 1800s and 1900s. His personal wealth, all inherited, was estimated at around 115 million doura but has since been passed to his widowed wife and nine-year-old son. He had personally donated one million of his fortune to various charities since 1997. In December 2004, he sold his villa outside Nortopalazzo for Đ 2.4-million, and gave 70% of that to the National Education Endowment.
Suicide
On 5th August, 2006, due to unbearable political pressure from having to both work as part of a two-man government and under the massive opposition of so many people both within Pacitalia and outside it, Benficalzo deliberately overdosed on sleeping pills during his visit to Bazalonia for a trade conference, thus committing suicide sometime during the night. Concerned bodyguards broke down the door to get into his room, and found the pallid corpse of Benficalzo sprawled on the bed in the room. The suicide was considered the final straw leading to the resignation of Constantino Sorantanali.
