Laura Boldrini, OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [ˈlaura bolˈdriːni]; born 28 April 1961)[1] is an Italian politician and former United Nations official, who served as President of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy.[1] Previously she served as Spokesperson to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for Southern Europe.

Laura Boldrini
President of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
16 March 2013 – 22 March 2018
Preceded byGianfranco Fini
Succeeded byRoberto Fico
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
Assumed office
15 March 2013
ConstituencySicily 2 (2013-2018)
Lombardy 1 (2018-2022)
Tuscany (2022-present)
Personal details
Born (1961-04-28) 28 April 1961 (age 62)[1]
Macerata,[1] Italy
Political partySEL (2013–2016)
SI (2016–2017)
Independent (2017–2018)
Futura (2018–2019)
PD (since 2019)
Alma materSapienza University of Rome
ProfessionJournalist
Signature

Biography edit

 
Laura Boldrini with Giorgio Napolitano and Pietro Grasso

Born in Macerata, Marche, Boldrini graduated in law from the Sapienza University of Rome in 1985. Afterwards, she was employed at the Italian public service broadcasting corporation RAI, working both for television and radio. In 1989 she was employed for four years at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), where she was active in video and radio production.

From 1993 until 1998 she worked at the World Food Programme (WFP) as the Italian spokesperson. From 1998 to 2012 she was spokesperson of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), for whom she also coordinated public information campaigns in Southern Europe. In recent years she has specifically dealt with the influx of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean. She has taken part in numerous missions to crisis spots, including the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Caucasus, Angola and Rwanda.

Political career edit

Boldrini was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in the 2013 parliamentary election as an independent candidate in the Left Ecology Freedom party list, who together with their coalition allies in the Democratic Party and in Italy Common Good held the majority of seats in the lower house. She represents the second electoral district of Sicily.

On 16 March 2013, following a meeting between the Democratic Party and Left Ecology Freedom, Boldrini was proposed by the coalition Italy Common Good as candidate for the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies. She was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies on the same day, receiving 327 votes out of a possible 618. She is the third woman, after Nilde Iotti (1979 to 1992) and Irene Pivetti (1994–1996), to fill this role.[2]

Boldrini has criticised "fake news", believing it to lead to forms of hate speech. She has proposed that Facebook be more active in regulating these forms of postings.[3] She has been threatened online and in real life for her role in supporting immigrants' and women's rights.[4][5]

In December 2020, Boldrini announced she was suing Lega Nord leader Matteo Salvini for allegedly saying that she supports ethnic replacement of Europeans, and for calling immigrant criminals "Boldrini's resources", based on a speech in which she called immigrants resources.[6] A separate case against the Libero newspaper was dismissed in February 2022, for the 2018 headline "Desirée Mariottini, Laura Boldrini: her 'resources' rape and kill, but she goes on the attack against Salvini". The judge ruled that it was protected criticism of Boldrini's public and long-held pro-immigration views, and had not attributed blame to her.[7]

Honours and decorations edit

National Honors edit

Foreign Honors edit

Writings edit

Books edit

  • Tutti indietro (in Italian). Milano: Rizzoli. 2010. p. 216. ISBN 978-88-17-03990-1. BUR edition: 2013. ISBN 978-88-586-4488-1.
  • Solo le montagne non si incontrano mai. Storia di Murayo e dei suoi due padri (in Italian). Milano: Rizzoli. 2013. p. 162. ISBN 978-88-586-4347-1.

Films edit

Documentary edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "Profile of Laura Boldrini". The official website of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Republic.
  2. ^ Passarin, Sara Greta (2022-05-05). "Chi è Laura Boldrini: la biografia della politica italiana". True News. (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  3. ^ Wong, Joon Ian. "Top Italian politician Laura Boldrini is calling out Mark Zuckerberg for ignoring hate speech and fake news". Quartz. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
  4. ^ "Meet The Politician Getting Death Threats For Campaigning For Women's Rights In Italy". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  5. ^ "Laura Boldrini". POLITICO. 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  6. ^ Arachi, Alessandra (8 December 2020). "Boldrini: "Chiedo i danni a Salvini. Contro di me una campagna d'odio"". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  7. ^ Pacci, Monica (19 February 2022). "Boldrini ko in tribunale sugli immigrati: dire che "le 'sue' risorse stuprano e uccidono" non è reato". Secolo d'Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Decorations of Laura Boldrini". The official website of the Presidency of the Italian Republic.
  9. ^ (in Italian) [1]. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  10. ^ (in Italian) [2]. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  11. ^ "Shqiptarja.com - Boldrini rikthehet nė Kukės si "Qytetare Nderi":Njė apel pėr BE!". shqiptarja.com. Archived from the original on 2016-10-17.
  12. ^ "Presidenti Nishani pret Kryetaren e Dhomës së Deputetëve të Parlamentit italian, Laura Boldrini dhe e dekoron për kontributin e dhënë në forcimin e marrëdhënieve mes dy vendeve me medaljen "Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu" | President". Archived from the original on 2016-10-13. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  13. ^ "Oranews.tv - Laura Boldrini visits Tirana, reiterates Italy's support – Ora News". Archived from the original on 2016-10-17. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  14. ^ Knight, Chris (Jan 13, 2023). "Film review: Backlash will make you angry, and that's good". National Post. National Post.
  15. ^ Caillou, Annabelle (2022-09-02). ""Je vous salue salope": "elles vivent comme dans un film d'horreur"". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved 2023-07-13.

External links edit

Political offices
Preceded by President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies
2013–2018
Succeeded by