Mario Oriani-Ambrosini

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Mario Gaspare R. Oriani-Ambrosini (26 October 1960 – 16 August 2014) was an Italian constitutional lawyer who became a South African politician for the Inkatha Freedom Party. Born in Rome, he was raised by his grand-uncle Gaspare Ambrosini and studied at the University of Rome, Harvard, and Georgetown. He worked with leading constitutional scholars and advised on constitutions around the world before turning to South African politics.

In the early 1990s he served as the IFP’s chief constitutional negotiator, helping draft the KwaZulu/Natal constitution and contributing to South Africa’s 1994 interim constitution and the final constitution. He spent about a decade as a Cabinet adviser to Inkatha leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, focusing on immigration reform, Home Affairs, and related policies. Oriani-Ambrosini entered the national Parliament in 2009, where he used parliamentary tools to push reform, including the first filibuster in South Africa’s Parliament to delay the Protection of State Information Bill, and he challenged parliamentary rules in landmark court cases. He helped establish the Parliamentary Institute of South Africa and was active in human rights causes, including Tibet. In 2014 he introduced a private member’s bill to legalise medical cannabis. At the time of his death he held American, Italian, and South African citizenship. He was married to Carin, had a partner Jani Allan, and a son, Luke William. He died in August 2014 after a battle with cancer.