Riccardo Paternò Di Montecupo
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H.E. Don Riccardo Paternò, Count of Montecupo, Prince of Cerenzia, of the Dukes of San Nicola and Pozzomauro (born 5 October 1945) is an Italian economist and academic serving as the Grand Chancellor of the
Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...
since September 2022. He is a member of the House of Paternò, a major Sicilian noble family.


Early life and economic career

Paternò di Montecupo was born on 5 October 1945 in
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. He attended the
University of Naples Federico II The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...
and graduated with a law degree. He later became an economist and professor. He was the chair of International Economics for the
University of Naples The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...
for 35 years, having begun teaching there in 1980. He also was a visiting professor at the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
in 1981 and taught International Economics at several other Italian universities. Between 1983 and 1994 Paternò di Montecupo served as an economic advisor to several ministries of the Italian Government, including the Minister of Industry and Minister of Defence, in addition the Prime Minister's Office. He was also a Member of the Technical Scientific Committee for Economic Planning of the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning (1989-1996). During his career he advised a number of companies, including
Confindustria The General Confederation of Italian Industry (), commonly known as Confindustria, is the Italy, Italian small, medium, and big enterprises federation, acting as a private and autonomous chamber of commerce, founded in 1910. The association netwo ...
(1986-1998),
Salomon Brothers Salomon Brothers, Inc., was an American multinational bulge bracket investment bank headquartered in New York City. It was one of the five List of investment banks, largest investment banking enterprises in the United States and a very profitabl ...
(1992-1998),
Bayer Bayer AG (English: , commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and biomedical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer' ...
(1997-1999), and
Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...
(1999 to today), among others. He is still the active President of the Ernst & Young Foundation. A member of the Italian Society of Economists, he was also a contributor to the Naples daily newspaper ''
Il Mattino ''Il Mattino'' (English: "The Morning") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Naples, Italy. History and profile ''Il Mattino'' was first published on 16 March 1892 by the journalists Edoardo Scarfoglio and Matilde Serao. Since 1999, the ...
''.


Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Paternò di Montecupo is active in charitable organizations, having joined UNITALSI in 1962, serving as president of the Ernst & Young Foundation, "whose aim is to give opportunities to young people in disadvantaged situations," and founding the Renato and Laura Paternò Foundation, another charitable group which he chairs. Paternò di Montecupo became a member of the
Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...
(SMOM) in 1979. The SMOM, a Catholic order focused on providing humanitarian aid, is considered a sovereign entity although it possesses no territory, having diplomatic relations with 113 countries as of 2023. Paternò di Montecupo served as the Order's Deputy Observer for its mission to the
Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...
(FAO) and as the head of the Association of Italian Knights of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from June 2016 to April 2023, thus also being the head of the SMOM Military Corps. On 3 September 2022, Paternò di Montecupo was appointed by
Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
to be the Grand Chancellor of the SMOM, a position making him the equivalent of a
prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
. He also became a member of the Sovereign Council of the Order of Malta and the Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as the Minister of Internal Affairs. In January 2023, he was re-confirmed to the post of Grand Chancellor for a six-year term expiring in 2029. In September 2023, Paternò di Montecupo gave a speech at the
United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
on the subject of the war in Ukraine, discussing the humanitarian efforts put out by the SMOM as well as the costs of the war, noting that "there is no easy solution to this conflict, but peace remains the only way out of this tragic situation. We are aware that the process could be long, difficult and painful, but there is no alternative if we want to stop as soon as possible the enormous human suffering and the negative economic and social repercussions of the war at a global level," as well as that the monetary cost of the war was so great that it could have funded
UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
for over 30 years. He was the first Grand Chancellor of the SMOM ever to speak at the UN Security Council. Paternò di Montecupo spoke at the 60th Munich Security Conference in February 2024 and later gave another address to the UN Security Council in September 2024, on the topic of "Leadership for Peace." In October 2024, he was a co-signer of an agreement to officially establish relations between the SMOM and the United Kingdom.


Honours and awards

: * Knight Grand Cross of the
Order of the Star of Italy The Order of the Star of Italy ( ) is an Italian order of chivalry that was founded in 2011. The order was reformed from the 1947 Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity by the 11th President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano. The emphasis of the ...
(2023) * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Merit of the Italian Republic (2023) : Grand Cross of the
Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus () (abbreviated OSSML) is a Roman Catholic dynastic order of knighthood bestowed by the royal House of Savoy. It is the second-oldest order of knighthood in the world, tracing its lineage to AD 1098, a ...
(2023)


Ancestry


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paternò di Montecupo, Riccardo 1945 births Living people People from Naples University of Naples Federico II alumni Academic staff of the University of Naples Federico II Italian economists Bailiffs Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta