Lodovico Pizzati (born 3 September 1973) is an Italian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, politician, and university professor. He currently teaches at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

in the Economics department, where he teaches a combination of upper and lower level courses.

Biography

Pizzati was born in

Valdagno Valdagno is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, north-eastern Italy. The town was the birthplace of the textile manufacturing company Marzotto, and home to the Italian hotel chain "Jolly Hotels" Geography The town extends along the ...

, the son of Giulio Pizzati, one of the earliest members of

Liga Veneta Liga Veneta ( vec, Łiga Vèneta; en, Venetian League; abbr. LV), whose complete name is ( en, Venetian League for Salvini Premier), is a regionalist political party active in Veneto. The LV, whose ideology combines Venetian nationalism and su ...

(and later of Liga Federativa Veneta), Lodovico Pizzati has been a Venetist throughout all his life.--> In 1990 Lodovico was an activist of Veneto Autonomous Region Movement, his father's party at the time. Shortly after, he went to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to study at a local high school. Having moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, he earned a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in economics at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. In 2006 Pizzati returned in Veneto because he wanted his children to learn the

Venetian language Venetian, wider Venetian or Venetan ( or ) is a Romance language spoken natively in the northeast of Italy,Ethnologue mostly in the Veneto region, where most of the five million inhabitants can understand it. It is sometimes spoken and often ...

and to live the Venetian way. From 2006 to 2013 he was a contract professor of economics at

Ca' Foscari University of Venice Ca' Foscari University of Venice ( it, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, simply Università Ca' Foscari) is a public university in Venice, Italy. Since its foundation in 1868, it has been housed in the Venetian Gothic palace of Ca' Foscari, from w ...

. Since 2013 he returned to the United States as a professor of economic statistics at

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and later at the

Politics

A lapsed voter (living abroad for years), Pizzati had voted just twice during his life (

Liga Veneta Repubblica Liga Veneta Repubblica (''Łiga Vèneta Republica'', Venetian Republic League, LVR) is a Venetist political party in Veneto, Italy. The party maintains a mildly separatist position and campaigns for the self-government of Veneto. The party's fo ...

in 1999 and

North-East Project North-East Project ( it, Progetto NordEst, PNE) is a Venetist, fiscal federalist and libertarian Italian political party based in Veneto, demanding larger autonomy, if not complete independence for the region. History The party was founded ...

in 2006) before entering politics. In 2008 he joined the

Venetian National Party The Venetian National Party (''Partito Nasionał Veneto'', PNV) was a Venetist, separatist and libertarian political party active in Veneto, Lombardy and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In September 2010 the party suspended its activities and its member ...

(PNV) and was the party's president from 2009. In September 2010 Pizzati was elected secretary of

Veneto State Veneto State (''Veneto Stato'', VS) was a Venetist political party active in Veneto and eastern Lombardy. The party's goal to achieve full political independence for the former territories of the Venetian Republic from Italy through a referendum ...

(VS), the result of the merger of the PNV with other separatist groups. As VS leader he conceived some provoking initiatives, such as the "Monument of the Entrepreneur" (exposed in

Arzignano Arzignano is an industrial town and ''comune'' in the Province of Vicenza in Veneto, Italy. It is located from Vicenza, in the Valle del Chiampo. History In 1413, during a campaign of King Sigismund of Hungary against the Republic of Venice, its ...

in protest to Italian high taxation on business) and the so-called "fiscal trips" (bus trips to neighbouring

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, during which participants had the chance to open bank accounts). In October 2011, after an internal struggle, Pizzati was replaced as secretary by

Antonio Guadagnini Antonio Guadagnini (Bassano del Grappa, 25 August 1966) is an Italian politician. Guadagnini joined Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy (DC) in the late 1980s and, after that party's dissolution in 1994, he joined a score of centre-ri ...

. In May 2012 Pizzati switched to

Venetian Independence Venetian Independence ( it, Indipendenza Veneta, vec, Independensa Vèneta, IV) is a Venetist, liberal and, to some extent, libertarian political party active in Veneto. The party seeks to achieve full political independence for the former terr ...

(IV) and was elected secretary of the new party. In July 2013 Pizzati, who had lost a key vote during an IV's congress in June, launched Plebiscite 2013 (P2013), a cross-party nonpartisan committee for a referendum on independence, of which he became spokesperson; subsequently, in late August, he was dismissed as secretary of IV.

Language and editing

Among other things, Pizzati has been one of the six experts appointed by Veneto Region to fix the rules of standard Venetian language and the official Venetian names of all 581 municipalities of Veneto, the producer of the Venetian version of ''

Clifford the Big Red Dog ''Clifford the Big Red Dog'' is an American children's book series about the adventures of a precocious girl named Emily Elizabeth and her titular pet: a giant, red-furred dog named Clifford. It was first published in 1963 and was written by No ...

'', and an editor of the Venetian Wikipedia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pizzati, Lodovico Politicians of Veneto Venetist politicians Venetian independence activists Living people Georgetown University alumni People from the Province of Vicenza 1973 births Academic staff of the Ca' Foscari University of Venice California State University, Los Angeles faculty 21st-century Italian politicians