Sergio Cecotti (born 23 October 1956) is an Italian politician, former Mayor of

Udine Udine ( , ; fur, Udin; la, Utinum) is a city and ''comune'' in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (''Alpi Carniche''). Its population was 100,514 in 2012, 176,000 with t ...

and former President of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

Biography

Academic career

Cecotti graduated in physics at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

in 1979 and has worked at the

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, at the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, at the

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

(where he worked with Nobel Prize recipient

Carlo Rubbia Carlo Rubbia (born 31 March 1934) is an Italian particle physicist and inventor who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1984 with Simon van der Meer for work leading to the discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN. Early life and education ...

) and at the

ICTP The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) is an international research institute for physical and mathematical sciences that operates under a tripartite agreement between the Italian Government, United Nations Education ...

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

. He has taught physics at the

and at the

International School for Advanced Studies The International School for Advanced Studies (Italian: ''Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati''; SISSA) is an international, state-supported, post-graduate-education and research institute in Trieste, Italy. SISSA is active in the ...

Political career

In 1993, Cecotti joined the Northern League, with which he has been elected to the regional council of

Friuli-Venezia Giulia (man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_t ...

. He has been President of Friuli-Venezia Giulia for a few months between 1995 and 1996, with the support of his party and of the

Olive Tree The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' 'M ...

. In December 1998, Cecotti is elected Mayor of

with the Northern League, leaving the party in 2003 after criticizing its subalternity to

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 ...

, and founding Convergence for Udine. After leaving 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 ...

, in June 2003 Cecotti is re-elected for a second mayoral term: this time, Cecotti was supported by the

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

coalition. Cecotti held his seat for 10 years overall. On 14 February 2007 Cecotti decided to transform Convergence for Udine into a regional party, called Convergence for Friuli (''Convergenza per il Friuli''). The party was represented in the

Regional Council of Friuli-Venezia Giulia The Regional Council of Friuli-Venezia Giulia ( it, Consiglio regionale del Friuli-Venezia Giulia; fur, Consei Regjonâl di Friûl Vignesie Julie; sl, Deželni svet Furlanije-Julijske krajine; german: link=no, Regionalrat der Region Friaul-J ...

by Mario Puiatti, elected in 2003 for the Greens. In 2018, Cecotti founded the political movement

Pact for Autonomy The Pact for Autonomy ( it, Patto per l'Autonomia, fur, Pat pe Autonomie, sl, Pakt za Avtonomijo, german: Pakt für die Autonomie, PpA) is a Regionalism (politics), regionalist and Social liberalism, social-liberal List of political parties in Fr ...

, an

autonomism Autonomism, also known as autonomist Marxism is an anti-capitalist left-wing political and social movement and theory. As a theoretical system, it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerism (). Later, post-Marxist and anarchist tendenc ...

political party in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, which aims to protect all

linguistic minorities A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities. With a total number of 196 sovereign states recognized internationally (as of 2019) and ...

in the region, and with which he ran again for the office of President of Friuli-Venezia Giulia at the 2018 regional election, ranking fourth.

References

External links

Official website of Convergence for Friuli
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cecotti, Sergio 1956 births Living people People from Udine Lega Nord politicians 20th-century Italian politicians 21st-century Italian politicians Mayors of Udine University of Pisa alumni People associated with CERN