Chiara Appendino (born 12 June 1984) is an Italian politician and sports manager, mayor of

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

and the Turin metropolitan city from 30 June 2016 to 27 October 2021 and vice president of the

Italian Tennis Federation The Italian Tennis Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Tennis, FIT) is the national governing body for the Tennis sport in Italy. History The FIT was born in Florence in 1910 with just 26 affiliated clubs. Davis and Fed Cup ATP Cup United ...

from 2 October 2020. She is a member 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 ...

(M5S).

Biography

Appendino was born in

Moncalieri Moncalieri (; pms, Moncalé ) is a town and ''comune'' of 56,134 inhabitants (31 January 2022) about directly south of downtown Turin (to whose Metropolitan City it belongs), in Piedmont, Italy. It is the most populous suburb of Turin and it is ...

on 12 June 1984. She attended the Vincenzo Gioberti in Turin and graduated from

Bocconi University Bocconi University ( it, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, ) is a private university in Milan, Italy. Bocconi provides education in the fields of economics, finance, law, management, political science, public administration and comput ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

with a degree in International Economics and Management, majoring in economics and finance. From September 2007 to January 2010, she worked as a ' for the

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

football team; starting on 1 January 2010, she has been financial administrator in her husband's business.

Political career

Appendino's first political involvement was in the

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 ...

party. In 2012, she joined the nascent M5S. In the 2011 Turin local elections, Appendino was elected municipal councilor for the M5S, collecting 623 preferences. On 8 November 2015, Appendino officially announced her candidacy for mayor of Turin in the 2016 Italian local elections. In the first round she received 30.92% of the vote at the ballot. On 19 June 2016, she was officially elected

Mayor of Turin The mayor of Turin (Italian: ''sindaco di Torino'') is an elected politician who, along with the Turin City Council of 40 members, is accountable for the government of Turin, Piedmont, Italy. The current mayor is Stefano Lo Russo, a universit ...

, picking up 54.56% of the vote in the second round, defeating incumbent mayor

Piero Fassino Piero Franco Rodolfo Fassino (born 7 October 1949) is an Italian politician with the Democratic Party. He was Mayor of Turin from 2011 until 2016 and is a former national secretary of the Democrats of the Left party.

, who received 45.44% of votes. She did not run for the

2021 Italian local elections The 2021 Italian local elections were held on 3 and 4 October. Originally scheduled as usual between 15 April and 15 June with run-offs two weeks later, the Government of Italy announced on 4 March that they were postponed to after the summer due ...

and was replaced as mayor by Stefano Lo Russo of the Democratic Party.

Legal proceedings

In October 2017, the Prosecutor's Office of Turin started an investigation on Appendino for falsity in a public document in connection with the city's 2016 budget. She was first convicted on 21 September 2020 and handed a six-month suspended sentence. On 16 May 2022, the Turin Court of Appeal acquitted her because the facts of the case did not constitute a crime. In June 2019, a third investigation was started based on peculation. The case was dismissed in 2020. In November 2017, an investigation started into lack of safety during incidents at Piazza San Carlo, where one person died and more than 1,500 were injured in the

2017 Turin stampede The 2017 Turin stampede ( it, italics=no, Tragedia di Piazza San Carlo) occurred on 3 June 2017 when panic emerged in the Piazza San Carlo after a robbery attempt during a screening of the UEFA Champions League Final in Turin, Italy between loc ...

during the

UEFA Champions League final The UEFA Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of European ...

match between Juventus and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

on 5 June. One of the injured people became

tetraplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or to ...

and eventually died on 25 January 2019. On 27 January 2021, she was sentenced in first instance to 18 months jail for her responsibilities during the stampede in Piazza San Carlo. She appealed. In February 2021, another investigation started against her,

Sergio Chiamparino Sergio Chiamparino (born 1 September 1948) is an Italian politician. He was President of Piedmont from 2014 to 2019, and was the mayor of Turin, Italy from 2001 to 2011. A graduate in political sciences at the University of Turin, where he wo ...

, Alberto Cirio, and others. They must respond for not having taken sufficient measures to combat smog pollution that since 2015 has led the Turin air to be repeatedly the worst in Italy.

Personal life

Appendino has been married since 2010 to the Turinese entrepreneur Marco Lavatelli, with whom she has one daughter, Sara, born on 19 January 2016 at the Mauritian Hospital of Turin, and one son, Andrea, born on 29 October 2021 at the Sant'Anna Hospital in Turin.

References

External links

Chiara Appendino on openpolis.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Appendino, Chiara 1984 births Living people People from Moncalieri Five Star Movement politicians 21st-century Italian politicians Mayors of Turin Bocconi University alumni Women mayors of places in Italy 21st-century Italian women