Hundreds of people have queued outside the Senate in Rome to pay their respects to former President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi who died on Friday.<br /><br /> His funeral will be held on Monday. A day of national mourning has been declared across Italy.<br /><br /> The former president, prime minister and central bank governor played a key role in guiding the country into the European single currency.<br /><br /> Le mie condoglianze a tutti gli italiani per la scomparsa di Carlo Azeglio #Ciampi. Perdiamo oggi un grande Italiano e un grande Europeo.— Jean-Claude Juncker (@JunckerEU) September 16, 2016<br /><br /> The 95-year-old had been ill for some time.<br /><br /> One of Italy’s most-respected figures on the international stage, Ciampi also helped steer the country through the dark days of corruption scandals in the 1990s.<br /><br /> Italy desperately needs leading examples of pure statesmen: Ciampi, resistant, civil servant, PM, president was one https://t.co/HVlaDnPJAH— Francesco C Billari (@FCBillari) September 17, 2016<br /><br /> What they are saying<br /><br /> “Ciampi is the first president of the republic that I remember and especially the one that gave us the sense of being a nation, so I thought it was right to come and pay tribute,” – male mourner.<br /><br /> “He was mostly an example of warmth and discretion, values that we seem to have lost today,” – female mourner.<br /><br /> “I was born in 1994 and Ciampi is the first president I remember. I am a fervent pro-European, as was he. He was a very important statesman, no doubt a wonderful president,” – male mourner<br /><br /> “I feel admiration for a person who has given so much to Italy, both as governor of the Bank of Italy and as a minister, in difficult moments. And as president, also in difficult times,” – male mourner<br />
