Stefania Giannini (born 18 November 1960) is an Italian politician and linguist. She served as Minister of Education, Universities and Research from 2014 until 2016. She is currently Assistant-Director General for Education at

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

in Paris.

Early career

Born in

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one o ...

, Giannini in 1991 became a professor at the University for Foreigners in

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

, holding the chairs of

Phonetics Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

and

Phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...

(1992-1994),

Sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any or all aspects of society, including cultural Norm (sociology), norms, expectations, and context (language use), context, on the way language is used, and society's effect on languag ...

(1994-1998) and of Glottology and

Linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

(1998-2013). In 2004 she also became

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the Perugia University for Foreigners. She was one of the first and youngest

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

to hold this position in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Political career

As a candidate in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

with the

Civic Choice Civic Choice ( it, Scelta Civica; SC) was a centrist and liberal political party in Italy founded by Mario Monti. The party was formed in the run-up of the 2013 general election to support the outgoing Prime Minister Monti and continue his polit ...

party of

Mario Monti Mario Monti, (born 19 March 1943) is an Italian economist and academic who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a technocratic government in the wake of the Italian debt crisis. Monti served as a European Commiss ...

, Giannini was elected

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in February 2013. In November the same year, she was appointed secretary and coordinator of the party Scelta civica. As Senator of the Republic of Italy between 2013 – 2018 and Minister of Education, Universities and Research (2014 – 2016), she developed and implemented a structural reform of the Italian

education system The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...

, centred on social inclusion and cultural awareness. On 21 February 2014, Giannini was appointed as Minister of Education, University and Research in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Matteo Renzi Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having been ...

. During Italy's

presidency of the Council of the European Union The presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, which is the co-legislator of the EU legislature alongside the European Parliament. It rotates among the member state ...

in 2014, she also chaired the Education and Competitiveness Council of the European Union. She was succeeded by Valeria Fedeli in 2016. From 2017, Giannini served as adviser to the European Commissioner for Research and Innovation

Carlos Moedas Carlos Manuel Félix Moedas (born 10 August 1970) is a Portuguese civil engineer, economist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). From 2014 until 2019, Moedas served as European Commissioner covering the portfolio of Research, S ...

.UNESCO Executive appointments

, press release of 29 March 2018.

Career with the United Nations

In 2018,

Director-General

Audrey Azoulay Audrey Azoulay (; born 4 August 1972) is a French civil servant and politician who has been serving as the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 2017, becoming the second female le ...

appointed Giannini as one of four new members of the organization's senior management team. Giannini has since been serving as Assistant Director-General for Education, making her the top United Nations official in the field of education.

Other activities

Global Education Monitoring Report The 'Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM Report)'' was launched in 2016. Previously titled the Education foAll GlobalMonitoring Report, it published 12 Reports from 2002 until 2015, and was then renamed and relaunched under a new UN mandate to m ...

(GEM), Member of the Advisory Board *

Global Partnership for Education The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is a multi-stakeholder partnership and funding platform that aims to strengthen education systems in developing countries in order to dramatically increase the number of children who are in school and l ...

(GPE), Member of the Board of DirectorsBoard of Directors

Recognition

* 2008 –

Honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

, awarded by the College Reges-Rede Gonzaga De Ensino Superior (Brazil) * 2015 – ''America Award'', presented by the Italy-USA Foundation

Bibliography

* ''Tra grammatica e pragmatica: la geminazione consonantica in latino'' (Giardini, 1989) * ''Percorsi metalinguistici. Giuliano di Toledo e la teoria della grammatica'' (FrancoAngeli, 1996) * ''La pubblicità comparativa. Una via europea'' (FrancoAngeli, 1999) * ''Il cambiamento linguistico. Suoni, forme, costrutti, parole'' (Carocci editore, 2003) * ''La fonologia dell'interlingua. Principi e metodi di analisi'' (FrancoAngeli, 2003)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Giannini, Stefania 1960 births Living people Linguists Politicians from Lucca Civic Choice politicians 21st-century Italian politicians Academic staff of the University of Perugia Education ministers of Italy Members of the Senate of the Republic (Italy) Renzi Cabinet Women government ministers of Italy 21st-century Italian women politicians Women members of the Senate of the Republic (Italy)