Flavia Franzoni, professor and wife of Italy’s ex-Premier Romano Prodi, dies during hike at 76

ROME (AP) — The wife of former Italian Premier Romano Prodi has died during a hike in Umbria. Italy’s rescue service says Flavia Franzoni was found unconscious when rescue crews arrived. The Prodis and others were walking along the Via di Francesco, a popular pilgrimage route between Gubbio and Assisi, when Franzoni collapsed. Medics tried to resuscitate her, but the rescue corps said there was nothing to be done and she was pronounced dead at the scene. She was 76. Franzoni, a professor of social work at the University of Bologna, was often at Prodi’s side during his political career, which included two stints as Italian premier and a term as European Commission president.