Rita Borsellino (; 2 June 1945 – 15 August 2018) was an Italian Sicilian anti-
Mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
(MEP) for the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
.
Early life
Borsellino was born in Palermo, Sicily, and worked there as a pharmacist. In July 1992 her brother, Judge
Paolo Borsellino
Paolo Emanuele Borsellino (; scn, Pàulu Borsellino; 19 January 1940 – 19 July 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying t ...
, was killed by the Mafia in a bomb explosion. She began to organise and participate in events such as public debates, rallies and protests against organised crime. These included events in France and Germany, such as an event in 1994 in Paris with the Argentinian organisation
Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo
The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo is an Argentine human rights association formed in response to the National Reorganization Process, the military dictatorship by Jorge Rafael Videla, with the goal of finding the '' desaparecidos'', initially, a ...
.
Political career
In 1994 she was invited to join
Libera
Libera may refer to:
* Libera (mythology), a Roman goddess of fertility
* Libera (choir), a boy vocal group from London
* ''Libera'' (film), a 1993 comedy film
* "Libera" (song), a song by Italian artist Mia Martini
* ''Libera'' (gastropod), a ...
, an Italian NGO working against organised crime. In 1995 she became vice-president of the organisation and in 2005 she was named honorary president. Borsellino was also active in the peace movement, attending international peace conferences in 2000 and 2002.
In 1998 she became president of Associazione Piera Cutino, a non-profit foundation that promotes medical research into
thalassaemia
Thalassemias are inherited blood disorders characterized by decreased hemoglobin production. Symptoms depend on the type and can vary from none to severe. Often there is mild to severe anemia (low red blood cells or hemoglobin). Anemia can result ...
.
2006 regional election
In 2005, some minor parties of The Union, mainly from the radical left wing, endorsed her as their candidate in the primary election for the president of the Sicilian region. She was also backed by the
Democrats of the Left
The Democrats of the Left ( it, Democratici di Sinistra, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy.
The DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger of th ...
, being eventually supported by all the coalition parties, except the Daisy (''Margherita'') who presented another candidate. In the primary election, held on 4 December 2005, she defeated her competitor, and gained the candidacy of The Union for the Sicilian regional election held on 28 May 2006, where she lost to incumbent governor
Salvatore Cuffaro
Salvatore "Totò" Cuffaro (born 21 February 1958) is a former Italian politician and former President of Sicily. He has served an almost 5-year jail sentence for aiding Cosa Nostra.
Borsellino was the first Sicilian woman nominated for the presidency of the Sicilian region, and also attracted the highest ever number of votes for a candidate from The Union.
Later elections
In 2008 she ran for the Italian Senate as an independent with
The Left – The Rainbow
The Left – The Rainbow ( it, La Sinistra – L'Arcobaleno, SA), frequently referred as Rainbow Left ( it, Sinistra Arcobaleno), was a left-wing federation of parties in Italy that participated in the 2008 general election.
History
The federat ...
, but was not elected. In 2009 she headed the Sicilian
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
list in the
European elections
Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's.
Until ...
, and subsequently became a
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
(MEP). During her tenure, Borsellino served on the parliamentary committee on civil justice.
On 4 March 2012 Borsellino ran in a centre-left
open primary
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...
for the seat of
Mayor of Palermo
The mayor of Palermo is an elected politician who, along with the Palermo's city council, is accountable for the strategic government of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. The current mayor is Roberto Lagalla, who took office on 20 June 2022.
Overview
...
, with support from the Democratic Party, Left Ecology, Freedom, the Federation of the Left, the Greens and Italy of Values. She was defeated in the election by independent candidate
Fabrizio Ferrandelli Fabrizio is an Italian first name, from the Latin word "Faber" meaning "smith" and may refer to:
* Fabrizio Barbazza (born 1963), Italian Formula One driver
* Fabrizio Barca
Fabrizio Barca (born 8 March 1954) is an Italian senior civil servant a ...
.
Borsellino continued to serve as an MEP and was on a special parliamentary commission on
organised crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
In August 2004 Borsellino was awarded the San Lorenzo Prize for her civic contributions. She has received honorary citizenship of
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
,
Offanengo
Offanengo ( Cremasco: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cremona in the Italian region Lombardy, located about east of Milan and about northwest of Cremona.
Offanengo borders the following municipalities: Casaletto di Sopra, C ...
Crevalcore
Crevalcore ( Western Bolognese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, central Italy, near Bologna.
On January 7, 2005 a train crash in Crevalcore killed 17 people.
On May 20, 2012 an earthquake caused ...
.
Death
Borsellino died at the Civic Hospital in Palermo on 15 August 2018 after a long illness.