Sergio Mattarella | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2022 | |
| 12th President of Italy | |
| Assumed office 3 February 2015 | |
| Prime Minister | Matteo Renzi Paolo Gentiloni Giuseppe Conte Mario Draghi Giorgia Meloni |
| Preceded by | Giorgio Napolitano |
| Judge of the Constitutional Court of Italy | |
| In office 11 October 2011 – 2 February 2015 | |
| Appointed by | Italian Parliament |
| Preceded by | Ugo De Siervo |
| Succeeded by | Augusto Antonio Barbera |
| Minister of Defence | |
| In office 22 December 1999 – 11 June 2001 | |
| Prime Minister | Massimo D'Alema Giuliano Amato |
| Preceded by | Carlo Scognamiglio |
| Succeeded by | Antonio Martino |
| Deputy Prime Minister of Italy | |
| In office 21 October 1998 – 22 December 1999 | |
| Prime Minister | Massimo D'Alema |
| Preceded by | Walter Veltroni |
| Succeeded by | Gianfranco Fini |
| Minister of Public Education | |
| In office 23 July 1989 – 27 July 1990 | |
| Prime Minister | Giulio Andreotti |
| Preceded by | Giovanni Galloni |
| Succeeded by | Gerardo Bianco |
| Minister for Parliamentary Relations | |
| In office 29 July 1987 – 23 July 1989 | |
| Prime Minister | Giovanni Goria Ciriaco De Mita |
| Preceded by | Gaetano Gifuni |
| Succeeded by | Egidio Sterpa |
| Member of the Chamber of Deputies | |
| In office 12 July 1983 – 28 April 2008 | |
| Constituency | See list
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 July 1941 Palermo, Sicily, Kingdom of Italy |
| Political party | Independent (since 2009) |
| Other political affiliations | DC (before 1994) PPI (1994–2002) The Daisy (2002–2007) PD (2007–2009) |
| Spouse |
Marisa Chiazzese
(m. 1966; died 2012) |
| Children | 3, including Laura |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Piersanti Mattarella (brother) |
| Residence | Quirinal Palace |
| Alma mater | Sapienza University of Rome |
| Signature |  |
Sergio Mattarella OMRI OMCA (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsɛrdʒo mattaˈrɛlla]; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician and jurist who has been the 12th president of Italy since 2015. He is the longest-serving president in the history of the Italian Republic. Since Giorgio Napolitano's death in 2023, Mattarella has been the only living Italian president.[1]
A Catholic leftist politician, Mattarella was a leading member of the Christian Democracy party from the early 1980s until its dissolution. He served as Minister for Parliamentary Relations from 1987 to 1989, and Minister of Education from 1989 to 1990. In 1994, Mattarella was among the founders of the Italian People's Party (PPI), serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy from 1998 to 1999, and Minister of Defence from 1999 to 2001. He joined The Daisy in 2002 and was one of the founders of the Democratic Party (PD) in 2007, leaving it when he retired from politics in 2008. He also served as a judge of the Constitutional Court of Italy from 2011 to 2015.[2]
On 31 January 2015, Mattarella was elected to the presidency on the fourth ballot, supported by the centre-left coalition majority led by the PD and centrist parties.[3] Despite having initially ruled out a second term,[4][5] he was re-elected on 29 January 2022, becoming the second Italian president to be re-elected, the first being Napolitano.[6] As of 2024, five prime ministers have served under his presidency, among them Matteo Renzi, then the PD's leader and main sponsor of his presidential candidacy,[7] Paolo Gentiloni, a leading member of the PD who succeeded Renzi after his resignation in 2016,[8] Giuseppe Conte, at that time an independent politician who governed both with right-wing and left-wing coalitions in two consecutive cabinets,[9] Mario Draghi, a banker and former president of the European Central Bank, who was appointed by Mattarella to lead a national unity government following Conte's resignation,[10] and Giorgia Meloni, Italy's first ever female prime minister and leader of the right-wing coalition which won the general election in September 2022.[11]
During his long-time tenure, Italy faced the aftermath of the Great Recession, as well as the severe European migrant crisis, which deeply marked Italian political, economic and social life, bringing to the rise of populist parties.[12] Moreover, in 2020, Italy became one of the countries worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, being the first country in the Western world to implement a national lockdown to stop the spread of the disease.[13][14] Like his predecessor Napolitano, Mattarella has been accused of wielding the largely ceremonial role of head of state in an executive manner; his successful opposition to the appointment of Paolo Savona as Minister of Economy and Finance led to a constitutional crisis and threats of impeachment,[15] and he has twice intervened in government formations by appointing his own candidates for prime minister (Gentiloni in 2016 and Draghi in 2021) in lieu of calling new elections.[16][17]
- ^ "Giorgio Napolitano, former Italian president and first ex-Communist in that post, has died at 98". AP News. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
- ^ "La biografia del Presidente Sergio Matatrella" (in Italian). Presidency of the Italian Republic. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
- ^ "L'elezione del Presidente Sergio Mattarella" (in Italian). Presidency of the Italian Republic. Archived from the original on 18 January 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "Mattarella contro la sua rielezione". Il Post (in Italian). 4 December 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- ^ Albanese, Chiara; Rotondi, Flavia (22 November 2021). "Italian President Mattarella Says His Role Will End in Weeks". Bloomberg. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- ^ "Mattarella re-elected Italian president for second term" (in Italian). ANSA. 29 January 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
- ^ Foster, Peter; Squires, Nick; Vogt, Andrea (3 December 2016). "Europe holds its breath as Italy heads to the polls for critical referendum". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
- ^ Rovelli, Michela (11 December 2016). "Governo, Gentiloni accetta l'incarico di governo: 'Un grande onore'". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Archived from the original on 28 September 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
- ^ Borrelli, Silvia Sciorilli (9 August 2019). "Matteo Salvini calls confidence vote in Italian PM". Politico. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- ^ "Mario Draghi sworn in as prime minister of Italy". The Guardian. 13 February 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
- ^ Amante, Angelo; Weir, Keith (21 October 2022). "Meloni takes charge as PM as Italy swings to the right". Reuters. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ^ "Statistiche immigrazione". Italian Ministry of the Interior. Archived from the original on 28 March 2016.
- ^ "All of Italy to be placed on coronavirus lockdown". BBC News. 9 March 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ "Italy, the first country in Europe to enter lockdown, starts to emerge". The Economist. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
- ^ "Di Maio: chiederemo l'impeachment per Mattarella". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
- ^ "Perché Mattarella ha deciso di convocare Draghi e non andare al voto". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "Draghi, ecco cos'è il governo del presidente. Le differenze con quelli tecnici, istituzionali e di scopo". la Repubblica. Retrieved 3 February 2021.