Virginio Merola (born 14 February 1955) is an Italian politician. Merola is a member of 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 ...

and former Mayor of

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

Early life

Virginio Merola was born on 14 February 1955 in

Santa Maria Capua Vetere Santa Maria Capua Vetere ( nap, Santa Maria 'e Capua) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, part of the region of Campania (southern Italy). Though it is not connected with the ''Civitas Capuana'', the town is a medieval place and i ...

in the

Province of Caserta The Province of Caserta ( it, Provincia di Caserta) is a province in the Campania region of southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Caserta, situated about by road north of Naples. The province has an area of , and had a total population of 9 ...

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

. After a short period in Curti, his family migrated to

, when he was five years old. He attended the

classical lyceum Liceo classico or Ginnasio (literally ''classical lyceum'') is the oldest, public secondary school type in Italy. Its educational curriculum spans over five years, when students are generally about 14 to 19 years of age. Until 1969, this was ...

Marco Minghetti Marco Minghetti (18 November 1818 – 10 December 1886) was an Italian economist and statesman. Biography Minghetti was born at Bologna, then part of the Papal States. He signed the petition to the Papal conclave, 1846, urging the electio ...

and than he studied at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

, where he graduated in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Political career

During 1970s Merola became a member of the Italian Communist Party, of which Bologna was a solid stronghold. When the PCI was transformed into a

social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

party, the

Democratic Party of the Left The Democratic Party of the Left ( it, Partito Democratico della Sinistra, PDS) was a democratic socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, ...

, Merola joined it. He had been President of ''Savena'' district for the PDS from 1995 to 2004, when he was appointed city planning by mayor

Sergio Cofferati Sergio Cofferati (born 30 January 1948) is an Italian trade unionist and politician. Secretary general of CGIL from 1994 to 2002, Mayor of Bologna for the Democrats of the Left from 2004 to 2009 and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 20 ...

, a former trade union leader. In 2007 Virginio Merola was one of the founders of the

. In 2008 he was candidated to 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 ...

primary to become Mayor in 2009 municipal election. The contest was won by University professor and Vice President of

Emilia Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

Flavio Delbono and Merola arrived third with 21.4% of votes. In 2010 Delbono resigned as mayor after the so-called ''Cinziagate'', when the Mayor was being investigated for

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

and aggravated abuse of office following allegations made by his former lover. Delbono's natural heir as mayor was considered Maurizio Cevenini, a famous local politician who has been a long-time member of the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

; but Cevenini suffered an

ischemia Ischemia or ischaemia is a restriction in blood supply to any tissue, muscle group, or organ of the body, causing a shortage of oxygen that is needed for cellular metabolism (to keep tissue alive). Ischemia is generally caused by problems wi ...

in October 2010 and renounced to run as new mayor. After Cevenini's withdrawal Merola ran again in the primary election against Amelia Frascaroli, a member of

Left Ecology Freedom Left Ecology Freedom ( it, Sinistra Ecologia Libertà, SEL) was a democratic socialist political party in Italy whose bulk was formed by former members of the Communist Refoundation Party. The party's leader was Nichi Vendola, a former President ...

, and Benedetto Zacchiroli, an

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

activist member of the PD, and won with 58.4% of votes. In 2011 election he led a centre-left coalition against Manes Bernardini, member of the

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

regionalist

Lega Nord Lega Nord (; acronym: LN), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing, federalist, populist and conservative political party in Italy. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, the party was rebranded as (), without changing its official n ...

, who led the centre-right coalition. Merola won the election in the first round with 50.47% of votes; he is the latest of a long line of left-wing

mayors of Bologna In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

. In September 2014 Merola transcribed, along with other centre-left mayor like Ignazio Marino and

Giuliano Pisapia Giuliano Pisapia (; born 20 May 1949) is an Italian lawyer, politician, former mayor of Milan, former member of the Italian Parliament and member of the European Parliament. As a politician, he has been a member of two left-wing parties, first P ...

, in the civil register the foreign marriages of

same-sex couple A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries w ...

s, which was opposed by Catholic institutions. After the establishment of metropolitan cities,

administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

s that included a large core city and the smaller surrounding towns that are closely related to it with regard to economic activities and essential public services, on 1 January 2015 Merola became also Metropolitan Mayor of Bologna. In

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

he ran once again as leader of a centre-left coalition against Lucia Borgonzoni, member of Lega Nord, and Massimo Bugani, the candidate of the

Five Star Movement The Five Star Movement ( it, Movimento 5 Stelle , M5S) is a political party in Italy. Its leader and president is Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy from 2018 until 2021. The M5S was founded on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a comedian an ...

. Merola became the most voted candidate in the first round, but gained only 39.5% of votes and did not succeed in being elected in the first round. On 19 June, he won the second round with 54.64% of votes and remained mayor.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merola, Virginio Living people 1955 births Mayors of Bologna Democratic Party (Italy) politicians 21st-century Italian politicians University of Bologna alumni

Early life

Political career

Electoral history

See also

References