Laura Boldrini, (; born 28 April 1961) is an Italian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and former

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

official, who served as President of the

Chamber of Deputies of Italy The Chamber of Deputies ( it, Camera dei deputati) is the lower house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Senate of the Republic). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical funct ...

. Previously she served as Spokesperson to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for

Southern Europe Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Alba ...

Biography

Boldrini, Napolitano and Grasso 2013 - 2

Born in

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza ...

, Marche, Boldrini graduated in Law from 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 research university located in Rome, Ita ...

in 1985. Afterwards, she was employed at the Italian public service broadcasting corporation

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 ...

, working both for television and radio. In 1989 she was employed for four years at the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

of the

(FAO), where she was active in video and radio production. From 1993 until 1998 she worked at the

World Food Programme The World Food Programme; it, Programma alimentare mondiale; es, Programa Mundial de Alimentos; ar, برنامج الأغذية العالمي, translit=barnamaj al'aghdhiat alealami; russian: Всемирная продовольствен� ...

(WFP) as the Italian spokesperson. From 1998 to 2012 she was spokesperson of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), for whom she also coordinated public information campaigns in

. In recent years she has specifically dealt with the influx of migrants and refugees in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

. She has taken part in numerous missions to crisis spots, including the former

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, Sudan,

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and Rwanda.

Political career

Boldrini was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in the 2013 parliamentary election as an independent candidate in the

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 Preside ...

party list, who together with their coalition allies in 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 in Italy Common Good held the majority of seats in the lower house. She represents the second electoral district of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. On 16 March 2013, following a meeting between the Democratic Party and Left Ecology Freedom, Boldrini was proposed by the coalition Italy Common Good as candidate for the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies. She was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies on the same day, receiving 327 votes out of a possible 618. She is the third woman, after Nilde Iotti (1979 to 1992) and Irene Pivetti (1994–1996), to fill this role. Boldrini has criticised "fake news", believing it to lead to forms of hate speech. She has proposed that

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

be more active in regulating these forms of postings. She has been threatened online and in real life for her role in supporting immigrants' and women's rights. In December 2020, Boldrini announced she was suing Lega Nord leader

Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been Federal Secretary of Italy's Lega Nord (Northern League) party s ...

for allegedly saying that she supports ethnic replacement of Europeans, and for calling immigrant criminals "Boldrini's resources", based on a speech in which she called immigrants resources. A separate case against the ''Libero'' newspaper was dismissed in February 2022, for the 2018 headline " Desirée Mariottini, Laura Boldrini: her 'resources' rape and kill, but she goes on the attack against Salvini". The judge ruled that it was protected criticism of Boldrini's public and long-held pro-immigration views, and had not attributed blame to her.

Honours and decorations

National Honors

* : Knight of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

on 26 February 2004 * , Montecassiano (MC) : Primadonna 2008 * : Renato Benedetto Fabrizi 2011

Foreign Honors

* : Honorary Citizen of the City of

Kukës Kukës ( sq-definite, Kukësi) is a city in the Republic of Albania. The city is the capital of the surrounding municipality of Kukës and county of Kukës, one of 12 constituent counties of the republic. It spans and had a total population of 1 ...

Order of Skanderbeg (

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, 13 October 2016) – decorated by President of Albania

Bujar Nishani Bujar Nishani (; 29 September 1966 – 28 May 2022) was an Albanian politician. He served as President of Albania from 24 July 2012 to 24 July 2017. Nishani was the youngest person to have been chosen as president of Albania, taking office at ...

Writings

Books

*
BUR edition
2013. . *

References

External links

* * *
Official website
on

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boldrini, Laura 1961 births Living people People from Macerata Left Ecology Freedom politicians Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy) Deputies of Legislature XVII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVIII of Italy Politicians of Marche Italian journalists Women legislative speakers 21st-century Italian women politicians Sapienza University of Rome alumni Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Recipients of the Order of Skanderbeg (1990–) Women members of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy)