Luigi Brugnaro (born 13 September 1961) is an Italian

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politician and entrepreneur who has been the

Mayor of Venice The mayor of Venice (Italian: ''sindaco di Venezia'') is an elected politician who, along with the Venice City Council of 36 members, is accountable for the strategic government of the municipality of Venice, Veneto, Italy. The current office hol ...

, since taking office on 15 June 2015. Since July 2021, he is also president of

Coraggio Italia Coraggio Italia (, also translatable as 'Cheer up Italy', CI) is a liberal-conservative political party in Italy, led by Luigi Brugnaro. History In February 2021, amid the formation of Mario Draghi's national unity government, Cambiamo! (C!), ...

(CI), a centrist political party affiliated with the

centre-right coalition The centre-right coalition ( it, coalizione di centro-destra) is an alliance of political parties in Italy, active—under several forms and names—since 1994, when Silvio Berlusconi entered politics and formed his Forza Italia party. Despite ...

Biography

Entrepreneurial career

Brugnaro was graduated in architecture at Venice IUAV. He has been owner of the

Reyer Venezia Mestre S.S.P. Reyer Venezia Mestre, commonly known as Reyer Venezia or simply Reyer, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Venice, Veneto. The club currently plays in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the highest tier of basketball in ...

basketball team, a past chairman of Confindustria Venice and a former president of Assolavoro.

Mayor of Venice

Brugnaro ran for the office as an

independent politician An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

, assuming office on 15 June 2015. Brugnaro has attracted controversy via his banning of 49 books about discrimination and homosexuality from the city's schools, including a French book on

gay parenting LGBT parenting refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people raising one or more children as parents or foster care parents. This includes: children raised by same-sex couples (same-sex parenting), children raised by single LGBT ...

entitled ''Jean Has Two Mums'', and in declaring that there will be no

gay pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture, queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. Germane to these actions and statements he has engaged in a series of verbal back and forths with the entertainer and activist

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

, who maintains a home in the city. On 24 August 2017, Mayor of Venice Luigi Brugnaro ordered

Italian police Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

to shoot anyone shouting "

Allāhu akbar The Takbir ( ar, تَكْبِير, , "magnification

f God F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

) is the name for the Arabic language, Arabic phrase ' (, ), meaning "God is the greatest". It is a common Arabic expression, used in various contexts by Muslims and Arabs around the wo ...

" on sight. In his statement, he said: "We need to increase our security when it comes to terrorism. We had four would be terrorists arrested in

a few months ago who wanted to blow up the

Rialto bridge The Rialto Bridge ( it, Ponte di Rialto; vec, Ponte de Rialto) is the oldest of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. Connecting the ' (districts) of San Marco and San Polo, it has been rebuilt several times since its fir ...

. They said they wanted to go and meet Allah so we will send them straight to Allah without having to throw them off the bridge, we will just shoot them." In 2018, Brugnaro successfully spearheaded a drive to charge a fee to be applied to day visitors to Venice. The fee approved by the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitiona ...

will vary depending upon the time of year of one's visit. Brugnaro had said of the measure, "The tax will ...allow us to manage the city better and to keep it clean... and allow Venetians to live with more decorum". After a large luxury passenger liner crashed into a cruise ship terminal in Venice during the first week of June 2019, Brugnaro said, "Once again it is shown that big ships cannot cross the

Giudecca Canal The Giudecca Canal ( vec, Canal de ła Zueca) is a body of water that flows into the San Marco basin in Venice, Italy. It is one of the major canals in the city, it bisects the ''sestieri'' of Dorsoduro, separating Giudecca island and district fr ...

." During the repeated flooding of the ancient city in 2019, Brugnaro said "Venice is on its knees" in describing the catastrophe and labeled the cause as

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

in stating that "These are the effects of

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

s." Brugnaro is the owner of a Ferretti 1,000 luxury yacht. On 27 May 2021, he founded along with

Giovanni Toti Giovanni Toti (born 7 September 1968) is an Italian journalist and politician, who has been President of Liguria since June 2015. Toti was also elected to the European Parliament, following the 2014 European Parliament election. Biography Born ...

, a new party joined by former members 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 ...

Cambiamo! Cambiamo! (, also stylized as C!) is a centre-right political party in Italy, led by Giovanni Toti. History Background and beginnings In June 2019, after the European Parliament election, Silvio Berlusconi appointed Giovanni Toti, president o ...

, the

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

, and Democratic Centre.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brugnaro, Luigi People from Mirano Politicians of Veneto Mayors of Venice 21st-century Italian politicians Living people 1961 births