Cécile Kashetu Kyenge (; born Kashetu Kyenge, 28 August 1964) is an Italian politician and

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

. She was the Minister for Integration in the 2013–14

Letta Cabinet The Letta government was the 62nd government of the Italian Republic. In office from 28 April 2013 to 22 January 2014, it comprised ministers of the Democratic Party (PD), The People of Freedom (PdL), Civic Choice (SC), the Union of the Centre ...

. From 2014 until 2019, she was a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP). Kyenge is of Congolese descent. After moving to Italy in 1983 at the age of 19, she became a qualified ophthalmologist in

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

. She has founded an intercultural Association (DAWA) to promote mutual awareness, integration and cooperation between Italy and Africa, particularly in her country of birth, the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is also the spokesperson of the association "March First", which works to promote the rights of migrants in Italy. In February 2013 she was elected member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

for the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

in Emilia-Romagna. Two months later she was appointed Minister for Integration in the

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are t ...

government formed by

Enrico Letta Enrico Letta (; born 20 August 1966) is an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy from April 2013 to February 2014, leading a grand coalition of centre-left and centre-right parties. Since March 2021, Letta has been secretary ...

, becoming Italy's first

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

cabinet minister. She supports the introduction of a ''

Jus soli ''Jus soli'' ( , , ; meaning "right of soil"), commonly referred to as birthright citizenship, is the right of anyone born in the territory of a state to nationality or citizenship. ''Jus soli'' was part of the English common law, in contras ...

'' law to grant

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

to children of immigrants born on Italian soil.

Biography

Kyenge was born in Kambove (

Haut-Katanga District Haut-Katanga District (Upper Katanga District) is a former district located in the former Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The copper mining centers of Lubumbashi and Likasi were surrounded by the district but were admin ...

) in the Democratic Republic of Congo on 28 August 1964. She arrived in Italy with a student visa in 1983. She has a degree in medicine and surgery from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in

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 ...

. She is a specialist in ophthalmology at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. In 2002 she founded the Association for Intercultural DAWA ("dawa" is a

Kiswahili Swahili, also known by its local name , is the native language of the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent litoral islands). It is a Bantu language, though Swahili ...

word meaning "medicine"), with the aim of promoting mutual understanding of different cultures and develop processes of awareness, integration and cooperation between Italy and Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo where Kyenge focuses mostly her efforts. Since September 2010 she has been the national spokesperson of the Italian association "March First" that works to promote the rights of migrants. She collaborates with various organizations and associations in national campaigns on the rights of citizenship. She collaborates with many Italian magazines, including ''Combonifem'' and ''Corriere Immigrazione'', an online newspaper and a weekly journal on the culture of Italy of the present and future.

Early political career

In 2004 Kyenge was elected in a district of the town of

for the

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left ( it, Democratici di Sinistra, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. The DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger of th ...

and later became the provincial head of the Forum of International Cooperation and Immigration. On 7 June 2009 Kyenge was elected provincial councilor in Modena for the

(PD) and joined the committee Welfare and social policies. She is also responsible for immigration policies in

for the Democratic Party. On 25 February 2013 Kyenge was elected member of the

for the PD in Emilia-Romagna.
Immediately after her election to the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitiona ...

, with the support of other signatories (

Pier Luigi Bersani Pier Luigi Bersani (; born 29 September 1951) is an Italian politician and was Secretary of the Democratic Party (PD), Italy's leading centre-left party, from 2009 to 2013. Bersani was Minister of Industry, Commerce and Craftmanship from 1996 t ...

, Khalid Chaouki and

Roberto Speranza Roberto Speranza (born 4 January 1979) is an Italian politician of the Chamber of Deputies who served as national secretary of Article One. From 5 September 2019 until 22 October 2022, he has been serving as Minister of Health in the governmen ...

), she began to promote a plan for a law granting citizenship to children of immigrants born on Italian soil (a so-called ''

Ius soli ''Jus soli'' ( , , ; meaning "right of soil"), commonly referred to as birthright citizenship, is the right of anyone born in the territory of a state to nationality or citizenship. ''Jus soli'' was part of the English common law, in contras ...

'' law).

Minister for Integration (2013-2014)

In April 2013 Kyenge was appointed Minister for Integration in the

government formed by

, becoming Italy's first

cabinet minister. Her ministerial nomination was repudiated in some circles on cultural and/or racial grounds, being met by

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

insults from individual politicians belonging to the Northern League such as

Roberto Calderoli Roberto Calderoli (born 18 April 1956) is an Italian politician and a member of the Senate of the Republic. He was a Minister without portfolio for Legislative Simplification in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet. He previously served as Minister without ...

, VP of the

Italian Senate The Senate of the Republic ( it, Senato della Repubblica), or simply the Senate ( it, Senato), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Chamber of Deputies). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral sy ...

, who called her an

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...

, in addition to racist campaigns orchestrated by the New Force party and other

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

groups. Her treatment as Italy's first black minister has been described by ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

'' as "shameful" with "limited condemnation". Writer and University of Tokyo Professor Flavio Rizzo further analysed the climate around Minister Kyenge in the context of Italian inability to relate to diversity and "the emergence of

institutional racism Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of racism that is embedded in the laws and regulations of a society or an organization. It manifests as discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment, housing, health ...

European Parliament tenure (2014-2019)

Kyenge was elected to 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 ...

in the elections of 2014 as a candidate for the

from the constituency of

North-East Italy In European elections, North-East Italy is a constituency of the European Parliament. It consists of the regions of Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is ...

. During her time in parliament, she was a member of the

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) is a committee of the European Parliament that is responsible for protecting civil liberties and human rights, as listed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. ...

. In addition to her committee assignments, she served as vice-chairwoman of the parliament's delegation to the

ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly The ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly was created to bring together the elected representatives of the European Union (the Members of the European Parliament) and the elected representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states ("ACP c ...

. She was also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Integrity (Transparency, Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime), the European Parliament Intergroup on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights and the

European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights is an intergroup Intergroups are formed of Members of the European Parliament from any political group and any committee, with a view to holding informal exchanges of views on particular subjects ...

. She was an MEP from 7 January 2014 through 7 January 2019. Kyenge led the EU-Election Observer Mission for the 2015 general election in

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

Personal life

Kyenge married engineer Domenico Grispino in 1994 and filed for divorce in 2019. Kyenge and Grispino have two daughters named Giulia and Maisha. Grispino is a supporter of

Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of Federal ...

and ran as a member of

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 ...

in 2019 for a municipal position. Kyenge lives in

Castelfranco Emilia Castelfranco Emilia ( Western Bolognese: ; Modenese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Modena, Emilia-Romagna, north-central Italy. The town lies about northwest of Bologna. Castelfranco either occupies or lies near the site of the ancient For ...

References

External links

Profile on the Italian parliament's website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kyenge, Cecile 1964 births Living people People from Haut-Katanga Province People from Castelfranco Emilia Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore alumni Democratic Party (Italy) politicians Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to Italy Democrats of the Left politicians Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy) Italian ophthalmologists Women ophthalmologists Academic staff of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia Letta Cabinet MEPs for Italy 2014–2019 21st-century women MEPs for Italy 20th-century Italian physicians Italian women physicians Women government ministers of Italy 20th-century women physicians 20th-century Italian women Women members of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy)