Luigi Berlinguer (; born 25 July 1932) is an Italian politician who served in the government of

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 ...

as minister of education from 1996 to 2000. He 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 ...

Early life and education

Berlinguer was born in Sassari on 25 July 1932. His brother was Sergio, who was a diplomat and politician. They are cousin of communist leader

Enrico Berlinguer Enrico Berlinguer (; 25 May 1922 – 11 June 1984) was an Italian politician, considered the most popular leader of the Italian Communist Party (PCI), which he led as the national secretary from 1972 until his death during a tense period in Ital ...

, who died in 1984. He obtained a law degree from the

University of Sassari The University of Sassari ( it, Università degli Studi di Sassari, UniSS) is a university located in Sassari, Italy. It was founded in 1562 and is organized in 13 departments. The University of Sassari earned first place in the rankings for ...

in 1955.

Career

Berlinguer served as mayor of

Sennori Sennori ( sc, Sènnaru) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about northeast of Sassari. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,298 and an area of ...

. He was the president of the

University of Siena The University of Siena ( it, Università degli Studi di Siena, abbreviation: UNISI) in Siena, Tuscany, is one of the oldest and first publicly funded universities in Italy. Originally called ''Studium Senese'', the institution was founded in 1240 ...

until April 1993 when he was appointed to the

Ciampi Cabinet The Ciampi Cabinet, led by the former Governor of the Bank of Italy Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, was the 50th cabinet of the Italian Republic and the second and final cabinet of the Legislature XI of Italy, XI Legislature. It held office from 29 April 1 ...

as minister of universities, science and technology. He was one of the three ex-communists in the cabinet. Then he served as the minister of education between 1996 and 2000 in the cabinets led first by

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 ...

and then by

Massimo D'Alema Massimo D'Alema (; born 20 April 1949) is an Italian politician and journalist who was the 53rd prime minister of Italy from 1998 to 2000. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2008. D'Alema also serv ...

. He was also acting minister of universities, science and technology from 1996 to October 1998. He was succeeded by Oreste Zecchino as minister. In addition, he served in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Italian Senate. He is a member of the

. He was elected as a

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

in 2009, sitting as part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. In the parliament he served as first vice-chair of the committee on legal affairs and as a member of the committee on culture and education beginning in 2009.

Awards

In 2011, Berlinguer received MEP award of the European Parliament in the field of culture and education.

Honour

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

(Knight Grand Cross; 27 December 1992)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berlinguer, Luigi 1932 births deputies of Legislature IV of Italy deputies of Legislature XII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIII of Italy Italian people of Catalan descent Italian Communist Party politicians Democratic Party of the Left politicians Democrats of the Left politicians Education ministers of Italy Government ministers of Italy Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany senators of Legislature XIV of Italy Democratic Party (Italy) MEPs MEPs for Italy 2009–2014 Heads of universities in Italy Living people People from Sassari University of Sassari alumni Academic staff of the University of Siena Mayors of places in Italy Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic