Jan. 10 (UPI) —<\/span> The president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, died early Tuesday after being hospitalized late last month due to a “serious complication” caused by a dysfunction of his immune system, his spokesman said. He was 65 years old.<\/p>\n Sassoli died at 1:15 a.m. at the Centro di Riferimento in Aviano, Italy, his spokesman Roberto Cuillo said on social media. The cause of death was not made public.\n<\/p>\n<\/article>\n “The date and place of the funeral will be communicated in the next few hours,” he said.<\/p>\n The announcement of Sassoli’s death came less than a day after Cuillo said in a statement that the president had been hospitalized in Italy since Dec. 26 and that all of his duties had been canceled.\n<\/p>\n “This hospitalization was necessary because of a serious complication due to a dysfunction of the immune system,” he said.<\/p>\n His death occurred only a few short months after he was admitted to a hospital in Strasbourg, France, in mid-September for severe pneumonia.<\/p>\n “What a big shock and a big loss,” Ismail Ertug, a German member of the European Parliament, said in a tweet<\/a>. ” I am deeply saddened. He left us too early. My condolences to his family! Dear David, Rest In Peace!”\n<\/p>\n The Florence, Italy, native had a career as a high-profile journalist and TV anchor before he turned to politics in 2009 when he was elected as a member of the European Parliament for central Italy with the center-left Democratic Party, according to his biography.<\/p>\n In 2014, he was re-elected to the parliament as well as elected as its vice president with focus on the budge and the mediterranean region.<\/p>\n However, it was in July 2019 during his third term that he was elected president of the European Parliament to oversee its 705 elected members.\n<\/p>\n Earlier Monday after the announcement of his hospitalization, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, had tweeted<\/a> about Sassoli’s health, wishing him a speedy recovery.<\/p>\n “Dear David, my thoughts are with you as you fight for your health,” she said. “Bon courage, as you often say.”<\/p>\n This is a developing story. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"EU](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/EU-Parliament-President-David-Sassoli-dies-after-being-hospitalized.jpg\" "\\"EU")
\n<\/div>\nEuropean Parliament President David Sassoli died early Tuesday after being hospitalized in Italy due to a dysfunction with his immune system on Dec. 26. Photo by Olivier Hoslet\/EPA-EFE<\/p>\n