Gianarrigo Rona (born 18 November 1940 ) is an Italian

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

administrator and lawyer. He is the current President of the World Bridge Federation (WBF). Rona was born in

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...

in Lombardy, the third generation in the family of lawyers. He studied law at the Ugo Foscolo Classical Lyceum in Pavia and

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

. In his youth, he played basketball in the Italy's First Division. Rona is a practicing lawyer. He was a board member of the Italian Board of Lawyers for twenty years, and administered the National Lawyers' Pension Fund. Rona played bridge at international level. His career in bridge administration began in 1979, when he was elected a board member of FIGB, Italian Bridge Federation. He was the president of FIGB between 1986 and 2009. He was the non-playing captain of the Italian open team between 1984 and 1985. As a chairman, Rona oversaw organization of multiple European and World championships, including EUBL Championships in 1979 and 1998, the European Open Pairs Championships in 1989, 1991 and 1995, the European Junior Teams Championship in 1982, of the European Open and Women's Teams in 1985, and the World Bridge Olympiads in 1988 and 1992, hosted in Italy. On the

European Bridge League The European Bridge League is a confederation of National Bridge Federations (NBFs) that organize the card game of contract bridge in European nations. In turn the EBL organizes bridge competition at the European level. It is a member of the Europ ...

(EBL), Rona served as a member of the Executive Committee (1995–), acting Treasurer (1997–1999) and finally the President (1999–2010). Rona was Member of the WBF Executive Council and Management Committee since 1999, and first Vice President from 2006. In the São Paulo WBF meeting in 2009, he was elected President and took the chair in 2010, succeeding long-term tenure of José Damiani. He was re-elected twice: first time in 2013 in Nusa Dua, Bali, and the second time in 2018 in Lyon, with the third term due to expire in 2022. His current term expires at year-end 2022.Jan Kamras is President-elect
/ref> Rona resides in Milan with his second wife Cippi.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rona, Giannarigo 1940 births Living people Sportspeople from Milan Italian contract bridge players Contract bridge administrators Lawyers from Milan