Anna Finocchiaro Fidelbo (; born 31 March 1955) is an Italian politician. She was 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 ...

's leader in the Senate from 2007 to 2013. She served as Minister for Equal Opportunities in the cabinet of

Romano Prodi Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Pr ...

from 1996 to 1998.

Biography

Born in

Modica Modica (; scn, Muòrica) is a city and ''comune'' of 54,456 inhabitants in the Province of Ragusa, Sicily, southern Italy. The city is situated in the Hyblaean Mountains. Modica has neolithic origins and it represents the historical capital ...

, Finocchiaro graduated in law in 1978, and she worked for the Banca d'Italia's branch in Savona before becoming a magistrate in

Leonforte Leonforte (''Liunforti'' in sicilian) is an Italian ''comune'' with a population of 14,046 in the Province of Enna, Sicily. The town is situated 22 km from Enna, in the centre of the Erean Mountains at 600 metres a.s.l. History The ancie ...

in 1982. She served as a magistrate until 1985, when she was appointed as a deputy

public prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

at the court of Catania. She was first elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a member of the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

; she was elected to Catania's council in 1988. Finocchiaro was later a member of both 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, t ...

and 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 ...

, and she was a founding member of the

(PD) in 2007. Finocchiaro served as Minister for Equal Opportunities in the first cabinet of

from 1996 to 1998. She stood for the Senate for the first time in the

2006 Italian general election The 2006 Italian general election was held on 9 and 10 April 2006. Romano Prodi, leader of the centre-left coalition The Union, narrowly defeated the incumbent Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the centre-right coalition House of Freedo ...

; she was named as the group chair of the

Olive Tree coalition The Olive Tree ( it, L'Ulivo) was a denomination used for several successive centre-left political and electoral alliances of Italian political parties from 1995 to 2007. The historical leader and ideologue of these coalitions was Romano Prodi ...

following her election. Finocchiaro was named the leader of the PD in the Senate following the party's creation in 2007 and was reconfirmed as leader following the

2008 Italian general election A snap election was held in Italy on 13–14 April 2008. The election came after President Giorgio Napolitano dissolved the Italian Parliament on 6 February 2008, following the defeat of the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi in a January ...

. In 2008 she also stood unsuccessfully to be

President of Sicily This is the list of all the presidents of Sicily since 1947. There has been 24 elected presidents by Regional Council (1947-2001), and 4 directly elected presidents since 2001. ;Elected by the Regional Council (1947–2001) ;Directly-elected p ...

. After being under investigation by the Italian courts for abuse of office aggravated fraud, her husband was completely acquitted on all counts in 2018.Catania, indagato per abuso d’ufficio Fidelbo Melchiorre, marito di Anna Finocchiaro
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finocchiaro, Anna 1955 births Living people People from Modica Italian Communist Party politicians Democratic Party of the Left politicians Democrats of the Left politicians Democratic Party (Italy) politicians Government ministers of Italy Deputies of Legislature X of Italy Deputies of Legislature XI of Italy Deputies of Legislature XII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIV of Italy Senators of Legislature XV of Italy Senators of Legislature XVI of Italy Senators of Legislature XVII of Italy Politicians from the Province of Ragusa 21st-century Italian women politicians Women government ministers of Italy 20th-century Italian women politicians Women members of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy) Women members of the Senate of the Republic (Italy)