[1] When he was a student at Liceo Classico Giuseppe Mazzini in Genoa, he was actively involved in the fight against the Nazi-Fascismus.
Later, he got a degree in law in Genova at age of 22 and in Political Science also two years later also with the highest mark and Laude for both.
He became a member of the Democrazia Cristiana Italian party and of European JEF in Paris.Young European Federalists In 1960 Cuocolo became Professor of Constitutional Law and in 1967 he published "La legge cornice nel rapporto tra Stato e Regione" (with the help of Giuliano Amato and Enzo Cheli), one of the most important books for the Italian regionalism.
[3] In 1970 Cuocolo was appointed director of political science faculty in Genova.
Furthermore, Cuocolo was involved in several prominent positions in the Italian public administration, in both Liguria and at the national level: e.g., he worked as a Law consultant for Italian Prime Ministers as Francesco Cossiga and others, and for the Council of Europe.