Antonio Guadagnini ( Bassano del Grappa, 25 August 1966) is an Italian politician. Guadagnini joined

Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

(DC) in the late 1980s and, after that party's dissolution in 1994, he joined a score of centre-right Christian-democratic parties, National Alliance (AN) and, finally, the

Union of Christian and Centre Democrats The Union of the Centre ( it, Unione di Centro, UdC), whose complete name is "Union of Christian and Centre Democrats" (''Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e Democratici di Centro'', UDC), is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy. Lore ...

(UDC). As UDC member and deputy-mayor of Crespano del Grappa, his hometown, he came to regional and national prominence for his request that municipalities would retain for themselves 20% of personal income tax. He was able to coalesce more than 400 mayors from all around Veneto and all political backgrounds on his proposal, which was anyway ignored by the Italian government.http://www.venetostato.org/2011/scoop-la-vera-storia-politica-di-antonio-guadagnini/ In 2009 Guadagnini stood as UDC candidate for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, but he was not elected. Increasingly marginalized within his party, he started to be interested in

Venetian nationalism Venetian nationalism (also Venetism, from the Venetian/Italian name, ''venetismo'') is a nationalist, but primarily regionalist, political movement active mostly in Veneto, Italy, as well as in other parts of the former Republic of Venice. ...

. Within the DC and the UDC, Guadagnini had been an ardent supporter of a Venetian centre-right party, independent from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, so it was a logical choice for him to join

Liga Veneto Autonomo Liga Veneto Autonomo (Autonomous Veneto League, LVA) was a Venetian nationalism, Venetist List of political parties in Veneto, political party active in Veneto. LFV was formed in early 2010 by senior members of Liga Veneta Repubblica (LVR), notabl ...

(LVA) first and, finally, Veneto State (VS). Guadagnini was soon chosen as the party's candidate for President of the

Province of Treviso The Province of Treviso ('' it, Provincia di Treviso'') is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Treviso. The province is surrounded by Belluno in the north, Vicenza in the west, Padua in southwest, Venice in the so ...

in the 2011 provincial election. In the election he won just 1.5% of the vote and did better in the eastern part of the province (traditionally a stronghold of

Liga Veneta Liga Veneta ( vec, Łiga Vèneta; en, Venetian League; abbr. LV), whose complete name is ( en, Venetian League for Salvini Premier), is a regionalist political party active in Veneto. The LV, whose ideology combines Venetian nationalism and su ...

–

Lega Nord Lega Nord (; acronym: LN), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing, federalist, populist and conservative political party in Italy. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, the party was rebranded as (), without changing its official n ...

), and especially in Crespano del Grappa (8.9%), Paderno del Grappa (5.2%), Fonte (4.9%) and

Borso del Grappa Borso del Grappa is a municipality in the Province of Treviso in the Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Ven ...

(3.6%). In October 2011, during a party congress in

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

, he was elected secretary of VS, succeeding to Lodovico Pizzati. Having led the party into the

Independence We Veneto Independence We Veneto ( it, Indipendenza Noi Veneto, INV) was a Venetist and separatist political party based in Veneto, Italy. INV, which was represented in the Regional Council of Veneto by Antonio Guadagnini from June 2015 to March 2016, is ...

(INV) coalition (in support of

Luca Zaia Luca Zaia (born 27 March 1968) is a Venetian and Venetist politician, who has been President of Veneto since 2010. Prior to that, Zaia was President of the Province of Treviso from 1998 to 2005, Vice President of Veneto from 2005 to 2008 and M ...

's re-election for

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

) and stood as a candidate in the 2015 regional election and was elected to the Regional Council of Veneto from the provincial constituency of Vicenza. Soon after being installed, Guadagnini, who was also appointed Secretary of the Council, formed a pro-independence "inter-group", which was joined from the start by

Stefano Valdegamberi Stefano Valdegamberi (born 6 May 1970 in Tregnago) is an Italian politician from Veneto. Political career A member of Christian Democracy (DC) since the late 1980s, Valdegamberi joined the Christian Democratic Centre (CCD) in 1994, after DC's d ...

, a former fellow UDC member who had been re-elected councillor in Zaia's personal list, and

Massimiliano Barison Massimiliano is a masculine Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: * Massimiliano Alajmo (born 1974), Italian chef *Massimiliano Allegri (born 1967), Italian footballer and manager *Massimiliano Ammendola (born 1990), Italian fo ...

Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...

. In 2016 he left INV and launched

We Are Veneto We Are Veneto (''Siamo Veneto'', SV) is a Venetian nationalist and separatist political party in Italy, based in Veneto. History The party was formed in March 2016 when Antonio Guadagnini, leader of Veneto State (VS) and member of the Regional C ...

(SV). Guadagnini holds two master's degrees, one in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and one in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

, and is a devout

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guadagnini, Antonio 1966 births Living people People from the Province of Vicenza Christian Democracy (Italy) politicians Union of the Centre (2002) politicians Venetist politicians Members of the Regional Council of Veneto Venetian independence activists