Maria Mattarella, niece of the Head of State and daughter of former Regional President Piersanti, who was killed by the Mafia on January 6, 1980, died in Palermo. A 62-year-old lawyer and Secretary General of the Sicilian Region, she had been battling an incurable disease for some time. President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella has been in the Sicilian capital since Sunday. When her father was killed, Maria Mattarella was 18 years old and was in the back seat of the bullet-riddled car. The 62-year-old leaves behind two sons, Giovanni and Piersanti. She was married to Alessandro Argiroffi, a university professor of Philosophy of Law who died prematurely in 2015. A former Legislative Chief of the Region, Maria Mattarella was baptized by her uncle, the President of the Republic, with whom she had always been close. A lawyer and head of the Region's legal department before becoming its Secretary General, Maria was the second child of Piersanti Mattarella, President of the Sicilian Region, who was killed by a killer who was never identified under his house.