In this interview excerpt, Romano Prodi, President of the Italian Council from 1996 to 1998 and 2006 to 2008 and President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004, outlines the circumstances in which he got to know Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, particularly when Padoa-Schioppa was Deputy Director General of the Bank of Italy from 1984 to 1997. Prodi particularly emphasises how Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa embodied the virtues of a great public servant, not merely one who executes orders.