Fiorella Ghiladrotti (25 June 1946 – 13 September 2005) was an Italian

Democratic Party of the Left The Democratic Party of the Left ( it, Partito Democratico della Sinistra, PDS) was a democratic socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, ...

later Democrats of the Left politician and trade unionist who served two terms as 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) for the North-West Italy constituency from 1994 to 1999 and again between 1999 and 2004. She was the first female President of the Italian region of Lombardy from 1992 to 1994, was a regional councillor of the Regional Council of Lombardy from 1990 to 1992 and a member of the

National Council for Economics and Labour The National Council for Economics and Labour (in italian, ''Consiglio nazionale dell'economia e del lavoro'' or CNEL) is a constitutional organ provided for by Article 99 of Constitution of Italy and established in 1957. The CNEL is an assembly ...

late in her life. Ghiladrotti has a room in the

Pirelli Tower Pirelli Tower (Italian: ''Grattacielo Pirelli'' – also called "''Pirellone''", literally "Big Pirelli") is a 32-storey, skyscraper in Milan, Italy. The base of the building is , with a length of and a width of . The construction used approxima ...

; an award; an association and a scholarship named after her.

Biography

On 25 June 1946, Ghilardotti was born in the small town of

Castelverde Castelverde ( Lombard: ''Castegnìn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cremona in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about northwest of Cremona. Castelverde borders the following municipalities: ...

close in

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, Italy. She was the daughter of a bricklayer and had one brother. Following graduation from the

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (English: ''Catholic University of the Sacred Heart'', colloquially the ''Catholic University of Milan''), known as UCSC or UNICATT or simply Cattolica, is an Italian private research university founded in 19 ...

with a Economics and Commence degree, Ghilardotti worked as a cultural operator for the ENAIP doing 150-hour courses in Milan during the early 1970s. She worked as a trade unionist from 1975, firstly at the Italian Federation of Metal Mechanics and then as secretary-general of the CISL in Milan from 1981 to 1990. During her period as a trade unionist, Ghiladrotti not only dealt with metalworker and textile workers issues but also socio-health issues and training employees. She was elected regional councillor of the Regional Council of Lombardy as an independent candidate of the

(PDS) in 1990. Two years later, Ghiladrotti was elected President of the Italian region of Lombardy, becoming the first woman to be appointed to the position. This followed the arrest of 12 councillors as a result of the

Mani pulite ''Mani pulite'' (; Italian for "clean hands") was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the so-called " First Republic" and the disappearance of many Italian ...

scandal reducing credibility. She led a centre-left council, which was a minority receiving support from the

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 ...

and the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...

parties as well as radicals. Ghiladrotti was vice-president of the Committee of Regions between 1993 and 1994, and she remained President of Lombardy until 1994. Standing for the

Group of the Party of European Socialists The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was officially founded as a Socialist ...

(PES) at the

1994 European Parliament election in Italy The 1994 European Parliament election in Italy was the election of the delegation from Italy to the European Parliament in 1994. It was the first continental election after the scandal of Tangentopoli which destroyed the traditional republican p ...

, she was elected a

(MEP) for the North-West Italy constituency on 19 July 1994 with 57,391 preference votes. As an MEP, Ghiladrotti frequently participated in legislative activity such as social legislation affecting the lives of the weakest members of the public and lobbying for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

in society and work. She was a member of the Members from the European Parliament to the Joint Assembly of the Agreement between the African, Caribbean and Pacific States and the European Union, Committee on Budgets; Committee on Women's Rights and Delegation for relations with South Africa. Ghiladrotti was a substitute for each of the Committee on Social Affairs and Employment, Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and Delegation to the EU-Malta Joint Parliamentary Committee. On 1 January 1999, she became a member of the Democrats of the Left, and was president of the PES Women's Commission between 1997 and 2004. Ghiladrotti was reelected 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 ...

as a MEP for the North-West Italy constituency at the

1999 European Parliament election in Italy The 1999 European Parliament election in Italy was the election of the delegation from Italy to the European Parliament in 1999. Electoral system The pure party-list proportional representation was the traditional electoral system of the Itali ...

on 19 July 1999. She was a member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs; Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities; Members of the European Parliament to the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the Agreement between the African, Caribbean and Pacific States and the European Union and Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market. Ghiladrotti was a substitute for both the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy. She presented a report on the "gender budget" to the European Parliament when public budgets were analysed in a non-neutral manner by noting the responsibility and role gaps between men and women for the first time in 2003. Ghiladrotti stood down as an MEP on 19 July 2004, and went back to politics in Italy and Milan, becoming a member of the

and head of labour problems as the PDS' Regional Secretariat. She was unavailable to stand for Mayor of Cremona in 2004 after her name was circulated for contention.

Personal life

Ghiladrotti was married to Sergio Graziosi, with whom she had two children. On the night of 13 September 2005, she died of a sudden illness in Milan. Ghiladrotti was given a funeral at the Santa Maria dell'Incoronata in Corso Garibaldi in Milan.

Legacy

The Ghiladrotti Fund issued by the S&D Equality and Diversity Traineeship was established by the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in 2004 and is awarded "to enable young people to gain practical experience in the areas of social rights and employment, women’s rights, anti-discrimination, equal opportunities and fundamental rights and freedoms. The candidate of this fund must prove his/her personal commitment (NGOs), professional experience or studies in the fields mentioned above." The annual Fiore Award was first awarded in her name in early 2006, and a scholarship in Ghiladrotti's name was setup by the Fiorella Ghilardotti Association in December 2006 to "support the delicate transition from middle school to high school" in Italy. In December 2009, the circle of the Democrats of the Left of Cassina de' Pecchi was named after her. A working room on the fifth floor of the

in Milan was named in dedication after her in a plaque unveiling ceremony held in December 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghilardotti, Fiorella 1946 births 2005 deaths Politicians from the Province of Cremona 20th-century Italian women politicians 21st-century Italian women politicians 20th-century women MEPs for Italy 21st-century women MEPs for Italy MEPs for Italy 1994–1999 MEPs for Italy 1999–2004 Presidents of Lombardy Democratic Party of the Left politicians Democratic Party of the Left MEPs Democrats of the Left politicians Democrats of the Left MEPs Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore alumni Italian women trade unionists