Giorgio Gori (born 24 March 1960, in

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

) is an Italian entrepreneur, journalist and politician. He is a member of 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 ...

and has been the mayor of

since June 2014.

Early life

Giorgio Gori attended high school at the Liceo classico Paolo Sarpi in Bergamo, where he became a member of the

secularist Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

and

reformism Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...

student group "Action and Freedom". At 18 years old he started working for ''Radio Bergamo'', a liberal station directed by

Vittorio Feltri Vittorio Feltri ( Bergamo, born 25 June 1943) is an Italian journalist and editor in chief of daily ''Libero''. Biography Feltri was born in Bergamo, Italy. He graduated with a degree in Political Science and then started his career as journa ...

. In the following years he worked for ''

L'Eco di Bergamo ''L'Eco di Bergamo'' is an Italian language daily newspaper published in Bergamo, Italy. The paper has been in circulation since 1880. History and profile ''L'Eco di Bergamo'' was established by the Sesa company in 1880. Its publisher is SESAA ...

'' and ''Bergamo Oggi'', two local newspapers.

Manager career

In 1984 Gori was hired by

Rete 4 Rete 4 (in English Network 4) is an Italian free-to-air television channel operated by Mediaset Italia and owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. Presently the director is Sebastiano Lombardi. Programs TV Programmes (currently) Rete 4's strength ...

, an Italian TV station owned by

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

. In 1991 Gori became the director of

Canale 5 Canale 5 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel of Mediaset, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It was the first private television network to have a national coverage in Italy in 1980. On 4 December 2012, Mediaset launched Canale 5 HD, a s ...

, the main TV channel of Berlusconi's

Mediaset Mediaset Italia S.p.A., also known as Mediaset, is an Italian-based mass media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company is controlled by the holding company MFE - MediaForEurope. Founded in 1987 by former ...

. In 1997 he was appointed director of

Italia 1 Italia 1 (Italian pronunciation ) is an Italian free-to-air television channel on the Mediaset network, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It is oriented at both young and adult people. Italia 1 was launched on 3 January 1982 and, originally, was o ...

, a position he held for two years when he was re-appointed at the head of Canale 5. In 2001 he founded ''Magnolia'', a society of television production that cooperated both with

Rai RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

and Mediaset. In September 2012 he resigned and sold all his shares to enter into politics.

Political career

Giorgio Gori durante una cerimonia istituzionale

In December 2011 Gori joined the centre-left

. In 2012 he became a close advisor of

Matteo Renzi Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having been ...

, the

Mayor of Florence The Mayor of Florence is an elected politician who, along with Florence's City Council of 36 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Florence. The title is the equivalent of Lord Mayor in the meaning of an actual executive leade ...

who was running in the primary election to become the centre-left candidate for Prime Minister in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

of the following year. In 2014 Gori announced his intention to run in the

municipal election in the same year. In the centre-left primary election in February he gained 58.5% of votes beating the civic Nadia Ghisalberti and Luciano Ongaro (member of

Left Ecology Freedom Left Ecology Freedom ( it, Sinistra Ecologia Libertà, SEL) was a democratic socialist political party in Italy whose bulk was formed by former members of the Communist Refoundation Party. The party's leader was Nichi Vendola, a former President ...

). In the mayoral election of June 2014, Gori gained 45.1% of votes in the first round and then he won with 53.5% against the centre-right incumbent Mayor Franco Tentorio. On 1 June 2017 Gori announced his intention to run as centre-left candidate to the Presidency of Lombardy in the Lombard regional election of 4 March 2018. Gori's principal rivals were

Attilio Fontana Attilio Fontana (born 28 March 1952) is an Italian politician from Varese, Lombardy. He has served as President of Lombardy since 2018 leading a centre-right coalition. Biography Early political career A long-time member of Lega Lombarda and Leg ...

(LN, supported by center-right coalition) and

Dario Violi Dario Violi (Costa Volpino, 4 May 1985) is an Italians, Italian politician. Biography He served as Lombard regional councilor from 2013 to 2018 in the 10th term of the Regional Council as a member of Five Star Movement (M5S). Violi ran for th ...

(M5S). On 4 March 2018 Gori lost the regional election with 29%, the worst result of a center-left candidate since the 2000 election. As the mayor of Bergamo, Gori raised controversy on 11 February 2020 by tweeting that he dined in a Chinese restaurant in solidarity with citizens who were attacked by "alarmists", and adding that there was "really nothing to fear".

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gori, Giorgio Living people 1960 births Democratic Party (Italy) politicians 21st-century Italian politicians Mayors of Bergamo Politicians from Bergamo Polytechnic University of Milan alumni