Paola Severino (born 22 October 1948) is an Italian lawyer, academic and politician. She served as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

in the

Monti cabinet The Monti government was the sixty-first government of Italy and was announced on 16 November 2011. This Experts' cabinet was composed of independents, three of whom were women and was formed as an interim government. The government ran the cou ...

from November 2011 to April 2013, being the first woman appointed Minister of Justice in Italian history. On 3 October 2016, she was nominated rector of

Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali "Guido Carli" (Italian for ''Free International University of Social Studies "Guido Carli"''), known by the acronym "LUISS" or "LUISS Guido Carli", is a prestigious private university loca ...

Early life and education

Severino was born in Naples in 1948. She studied law at

La 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 ...

and graduated in 1971. She is married to former CONSOB executive Paolo Di Benedetto, with whom she had a daughter. Severino is an amputee, having lost her right arm due to an illness.

Career

Severino began her career as a researcher at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (National Council of Research) in 1972, and worked there until 1975. She then worked as an assistant professor at La Sapienza from 1975 to 1987. Later she began to work at Perugia University and taught penal commercial law at the Faculty of Economics. She was appointed vice president of the Superior Council of Military Magistracy in 1997. She was the first Italian woman appointed this post. Her tenure lasted until 2002. In addition, Severino worked with

Giovanni Maria Flick Giovanni Maria Flick (born 7 November 1940) is an Italian journalist, politician, and jurist. Career Flick was born in Cirié, Piedmont, to a Catholic, half-ethnic German family, as the fifth of seven children. He began his education at the Je ...

, former President of the Italian Constitutional Court. She is among top criminal lawyers in Italy. One of her clients was the former Italian Prime Minister

Romano Prodi Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Prim ...

. Other prominent individual clients of Severino include Cesare Geronzi and Francesco Caltagirone whom she defended in the Cirio trial. Italian energy giant Eni was another client of Severino. She served as the head of the department of law at LUISS Guido Carli University in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

from 2003 to 2006. Before her appointment as minister of justice, she was working as a professor of

penal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

at the School for Carabinieri Officers and a Pro-Rector Vicar at LUISS Guido Carli University. She was appointed minister of justice on 16 November 2011. Her income in 2011 was more than seven million euros, making her the top rich minister in the Monti cabinet. Her tenure ended in April 2013.

Anna Maria Cancellieri Annamaria Cancellieri (born 22 October 1943) is an Italian official and prefect who served as Minister of Interior in the Monti Cabinet and Minister of Justice in the Letta Cabinet. Early life and education Cancellieri was born in Rome on 22 Oct ...

replaced her as justice minister. From 2018 to 2020 she was Special Representative of the President-in-Office of the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

(OSCE) for the fight against corruption, a position established by the Italian Presidency of the organization in 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Severino, Paola 1949 births 20th-century Italian lawyers 21st-century Italian lawyers 21st-century Italian women politicians Female justice ministers Italian Ministers of Justice Italian women academics Italian amputees Academic staff of the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli Living people Sapienza University of Rome alumni Academic staff of the University of Perugia Women government ministers of Italy 20th-century Italian women Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe