Margherita Boniver (; born 11 March 1938) 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, a ...

Biography

Until 1962 she lived abroad, in places such as

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, ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In Italy she founded the Italian section of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

which she led from 1973 to 1980. She was a member of the

Italian Chamber of Deputies 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 ...

for the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...

(PSI) from 1987 to 1992, and then of the

Italian Senate The Senate of the Republic ( it, Senato della Repubblica), or simply the Senate ( it, Senato), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Chamber of Deputies). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral sy ...

from 1992 to 1994. She also served as Member of the European Parliament from 1987 to 1989. Between 1991 and 1993 she served twice as minister: Minister for Italians Abroad in the

Andreotti VII Cabinet The Andreotti VII Cabinet was a cabinet of the Italian Republic. It held office from 1991 to 1992. Initially the executive was also composed of three ministers of the Italian Republican Party (Antonio Maccanico as Minister for Regional Affairs, A ...

and Minister of Tourism in the

Amato I Cabinet The Amato I Cabinet was the 49th cabinet of the Italian Republic, and the first cabinet of the XI Legislature. It held office from 28 June 1992 until 28 April 1993, a total of 304 days, or 10 months. The cabinet obtained the confidence of the Sen ...

. After the disbanding of PSI, Boniver 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 ...

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 ...

along with many other Socialists. After having unsuccessfully run again for the Italian Senate in 2001, she was appointed and served until 2006 as Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs in Berlusconi's II and III cabinets. In 2006 and 2008 she was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies, representing the social-democratic wing of the party.

References

1938 births Living people Politicians from Rome Italian Socialist Party politicians Socialist Party (Italy, 1996) politicians Forza Italia politicians The People of Freedom politicians Forza Italia (2013) politicians Government ministers of Italy Senators of Legislature VIII of Italy Senators of Legislature IX of Italy Deputies of Legislature X of Italy Deputies of Legislature XV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVI of Italy Italian Socialist Party MEPs MEPs for Italy 1984–1989 20th-century women MEPs for Italy Women government ministers of Italy 21st-century Italian women politicians Women members of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy) Women members of the Senate of the Republic (Italy) {{Italy-MEP-stub