Jole Santelli (28 December 1968 – 15 October 2020) was an Italian politician. A member of

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 ...

, she was the

President of Calabria This is a list of the presidents of Calabria since 1970. Until the entry into force of Constitutional Law 1/1999, the president of Calabria was elected, like the other members of the executive body of the region, by the Regional Council, among ...

from 15 February 2020 until her death eight months later.

Biography

After graduating in Law at the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a Public university, public research university l ...

, Santelli became a lawyer. She later joined

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 ...

's centre-right party,

, and was elected to 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 first time at the

2001 Italian general election The 2001 Italian general election was held in Italy on 13 May 2001 to elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. The election was won by the centre-right coalition House of Freedoms led by Silvio Berlusconi, defeati ...

. From 2001 to 2006 Santelli was

undersecretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is al ...

at the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

in the Berlusconi II and the Berlusconi III cabinets. She was elected to the

again in the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and the 2013 general elections. From May to December 2013 Santelli was undersecretary at the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

in the

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 ...

, until

withdrew its support from the government. Since 2013 Santelli has been the regional coordinator of

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and has been deputy mayor of

Cosenza Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a populati ...

from 2016 to 2019. In the 2018 general elections Santelli was elected one more time to the

. In December 2019 she became the

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

candidate for

at the

2020 Calabrian regional election The 2020 Calabrian regional election took place in Calabria, Italy, on 26 January 2020. The result was the victory of the centre-right coalition and the election of Jole Santelli as President of Calabria. The election was held concurrently with ...

, which she won with around 55% of votes.

Death

On 15 October 2020, Santelli was found dead at her home, aged 51, after suffering a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

and

internal bleeding Internal bleeding (also called internal hemorrhage) is a loss of blood from a blood vessel that collects inside the body. Internal bleeding is usually not visible from the outside. It is a serious medical emergency but the extent of severity depen ...

. She had also suffered from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

References

External links

*Files about her parliamentary activities (in Italian)
XIVXVXVIXVIIXVIII
legislature. {{DEFAULTSORT:Santelli, Jole 1968 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Italian lawyers 20th-century Italian women politicians 20th-century women lawyers 21st-century Italian lawyers 21st-century Italian women politicians 21st-century women lawyers Deputies of Legislature XIV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVI of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVIII of Italy Forza Italia (2013) politicians Forza Italia politicians Italian Socialist Party politicians Italian women lawyers People from Cosenza Presidents of Calabria Sapienza University of Rome alumni The People of Freedom politicians Deaths from bleeding Women members of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy)