Walter Veltroni

The Honourable
Walter Veltroni
OMRI
Secretary of the Democratic Party
In office
14 October 2007 – 21 February 2009
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Dario Franceschini
Mayor of Rome
In office
1 June 2001 – 13 February 2008
Preceded by Francesco Rutelli
Succeeded by Gianni Alemanno
Minister of Culture
In office
17 May 1996 – 21 October 1998
Prime Minister Romano Prodi
Preceded by Antonio Paolucci (Culture and the Environment)
Succeeded by Giovanna Melandri (Culture and the Environment)
Personal details
Born (1955-07-03) 3 July 1955
Rome, Italy
Political party PCI (Before 1991)
PDS (1991–1998)
DS (1998–2007)
PD (2007–present)
Spouse(s) Flavia Prisco
Children 2

Walter Veltroni OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [ˈvalter velˈtroːni]; born 3 July 1955) is an Italian writer, journalist and politician, who served as the first leader of the Democratic Party within the centre-left opposition, until his resignation on 17 February 2009.[1] He served as Mayor of Rome from June 2001 to February 2008.

Biography

Veltroni was born in Rome. His father, Vittorio Veltroni, an eminent RAI manager in the 1950s, died only one year later.[2] His mother, Ivanka Kotnik, was the daughter of Ciril Kotnik, a Slovenian diplomat at the Holy See who helped numerous Jews and antifascists to escape Nazi persecution after 1943.[3]

Political life

Veltroni joined the Federazione Giovanile Comunista Italiana (Italian Youth Communist Federation) at the age of 15, and was elected Rome city councilor in 1976 as member of the Italian Communist Party, serving until 1981. He was then elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1987. As a member of the Italian Communist Party's national secretariat in 1988, he played a leading role in the transformation into a social democratic party.

Veltroni, a professional journalist, was editor-in-chief of L'Unità, the newspaper of the Democratic Party of the Left from 1992-96. He then successfully ran as vice-premier candidate, together with Romano Prodi, for the 1996 national election in Italy. In 1996 he joined the Bilderberg Group meeting, and was from 1996-98 Minister for Cultural Assets and Activities. In 1998 he resigned, subsequent to his election as National Secretary of the Democrats of the Left (DS). Despite his background as a journalist, he has been involved in controversial episodes related to freedom of expression. For example, in 2001, after the late night show Satyricon aired an interview that discussed indictments on links between the right-wing leader and the mafia, Marco Travaglio reported that Veltroni dispatched a messenger menacing the closure of the show.[4]

As Mayor of Rome

In 2001 Veltroni resigned as leader of the party after being elected Mayor of Rome. In May 2006 Veltroni was confirmed Mayor of Rome, easily defeating former Minister of Agriculture Gianni Alemanno, of National Alliance, obtaining an unprecedented 61.4% of the valid votes against the 37.1% achieved by his main opponent. The percentage of votes that supported Veltroni's second term in office was a record in local elections in Rome. Shortly before this confirmation, Veltroni had declared that he was going to leave politics at the end of his second term as Mayor.

In 2005, as mayor of Rome, he met in Washington, during a visit to the United States, then United States Senator (D-IL), Barack Obama,[5] being one of his earliest supporters overseas.[6] He wrote the preface to the Italian edition of The Audacity of Hope in 2007[7] and has been referred to as "Obama's European counterpart".[8]

Veltroni during the electoral campaign.

Veltroni was then widely considered one of the most popular centre left politicians in Italy, and often singled out for the leadership of the Democratic Party, despite his statements that he would not accept such position after his tenure as Mayor would end. In June 2007, DS leader Piero Fassino publicly asked Veltroni to run for the party leadership, offering support from all of his party. Several other Democratic Party leading members publicly stated their support for a possible candidacy of Veltroni. Furthermore, the strongest of his possible contenders, Pier Luigi Bersani, which polls showed as having a 50% support in center-north regions,[9] withdrew to avoid a 'confusing candidacy'.[10] Veltroni officially presented his candidacy for the leadership of the Democratic Party at a rally in Turin on 27 June 2007. At this occasion he introduced the four key issues his programme would address: environment, generational pact, education, and public security.[11]

As leader of the Democratic Party

Veltroni was elected as the first leader of the newly founded Democratic Party on 14 October 2007, winning an open primary with around 2.6 millions of votes, or 75.8%.[12]

In 2007, Veltroni had some remarks against the Romanian immigrants, claiming that Italy has become "unlivable" since Romania joined the European Union,[13] while before its entry, Rome was "the safest city in the world", bringing accusations of xenophobia from the Romanian press.[14]

Following the defeat of Prodi's government in a January 2008 Senate vote,[15] Veltroni led the Democratic Party into the April 2008 general election. Veltroni resigned as Mayor of Rome on 13 February 2008 to concentrate on the campaign.[16]

He has been criticised for his over-frequentation of Rome socialites and advised to focus on more practical problems.[17]

On 17 February 2009, following clashes within the party and only a day after a heavy defeat of the Democratic Party in a local regional election in Sardinia,[18] Veltroni announced his immediate resignation from his leadership post.[1] The Constituent Assembly of the party subsequently convened on 21 February 2009 and elected Veltroni's former deputy Dario Franceschini as the new secretary.[19]

Miscellaneous

On 28 September 2014, in Venice, Italy,[20][21][22] the former Mayor of Rome was responsible of marrying George Clooney to Amal Alamuddin.[22][23] The wedding was widely reported in the media.[24]

Awards

In 2003 he received an honoris causa degree in Public Services by the John Cabot University of Rome. In 2006 Veltroni received the title of Cavaliere di Gran Croce (Knight of the Grand Cross) from President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. He won the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2009.

Works

Veltroni has written a number of books on various topics, such as music, social issues, fiction, biographies and politics.

References

  1. 1 2 "Italian opposition leader resigns". BBC News. 17 February 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  2. ↑ AteneOnline. "Chi è Walter Veltroni. Non solo politico" (in Italian). Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  3. ↑ Testimony of the rabbi S. Sorani in the book: Robert G. Weisbord & Wallace P. Sillanpoa, The Chief Rabbi, the Pope, and the Holocaust: An Era in Vatican-Jewish Relations 1992, p. 64
  4. ↑ Travaglio, Marco; Daniele Luttazzi (8 November 2001). "Intervista a Daniele Luttazzi su La Repubblica" (in Italian). La Repubblica di Torino. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2007. Dopo quella puntata famosa di Satyricon, Veltroni mandò un emissario alla mia regista per dire che, se non-la smettevamo di fare casino, ci chiudevano loro
  5. ↑ Rome Mayor's Leadership Bid May Lead to Early Italian Elections
  6. ↑ VELTRONI A NEW YORK – Il politico prevale sull' amministratore, corriere.it; accessed 29 June 2015.(Italian)
  7. ↑ Libreria Rizzoli Galleria, libreriarizzoli.it; accessed 29 June 2015.(Italian)
  8. ↑ Obama's European counterparts, latimes.com; accessed 29 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "Pd: Letta-Bersani volano nel Nord in sondaggi riservati". Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "RaiNews24 – Bersani rinuncia alla segreteria del Pd. "La mia candidatura avrebbe disorientato"". Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  11. ↑ "Italy's Left Looks Beyond Prodi". London: The Guardian. 27 June 2007. Archived from the original on 30 January 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "Rome Mayor Set to Win Left's Leadership". Associated Press. 14 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
  13. ↑ "Romanian actress battles racism in Italy", The Independent, 10 October 2008
  14. ↑ (Romanian) "Romanii din afara granitelor – Cine le apara interesele?", 22, vol. 15, no. 928; 18 December 2007
  15. ↑ Elisabeth Rosenthal, "With Flawed System Unchanged, Italy Sets Elections for April", The New York Times, 7 February 2008.
  16. ↑ Steve Scherer, "Veltroni Resigns as Rome Mayor to Take on Berlusconi (Update1)", Bloomberg.com, 13 February 2008.
  17. ↑ "La dolce vita revisited: Rome's new emperor". London: The Independent. 9 July 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
  18. ↑ Berlusconi's candidate wins elections in Sardinia
  19. ↑ "Italy's Left gets new leader". France 24. 21 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  20. ↑ Kington, Tom (27 September 2014). "George Clooney Marries In Venice Ceremony". Sky News. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  21. ↑ Oldenburg, Ann; Puente, Maria (27 September 2014). "George Clooney, Amal Alamuddin marry in Venice". USA Today. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  22. 1 2 Fornasier, Claudia (15 September 2014). "George, sì davanti a Veltroni". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  23. ↑ Squires, Nick (15 September 2014). "George Clooney 'to be married by ex-Rome mayor'". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  24. ↑ Squires, Nick (29 September 2014). "George Clooney's wedding to Amal Alamuddin finally ends". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
Political offices
Preceded by
Roberto Maroni
Giuseppe Tatarella		 Deputy Prime Minister of Italy
1996–1998 		Succeeded by
Sergio Mattarella
Preceded by
Antonio Paolucci
as Minister of Culture and the Environment		 Minister of Culture
1996–1998 		Succeeded by
Giovanna Melandri
as Minister of Culture and the Environment
Preceded by
Francesco Rutelli		 Mayor of Rome
2001–2008 		Succeeded by
Gianni Alemanno
Party political offices
Preceded by
Massimo D'Alema		 Secretary of the Democrats of the Left
1998–2001 		Succeeded by
Piero Fassino
Preceded by
Piero Fassino
as Secretary of the Democrats of the Left		 Secretary of the Democratic Party
2007–2009 		Succeeded by
Dario Franceschini
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