With a Ministerial Decree of 20 December 1996, the Italian Minister of Culture, Walter Veltroni, appointed a "scientific committee" to oversee the preparation of the "National Edition" of Gramsci's writings. The formal induction of the committee took place at the Ministry of Culture in Rome on 19 February 1997. The members of the committee are: Norberto Bobbio, Remo Bodei, Joseph Buttigieg, Luciano Canfora, Michele Ciliberto, Franco De Felice, Gianni Francioni, Eugenio Garin, Eric Hobsbawm, Maria Luisa Mangoni, Ezio Raimondi, Mario Scotti, Giuseppe Vacca, and Renato Zangheri.