Daniela Garnero (born 7 April 1961), commonly known by her former married name as Daniela Santanchè (), is an Italian politician. Between 2010 and 2011 she served as Undersecretary to the Ministry for the Implementation of the Government Program in the

Berlusconi IV Cabinet The fourth Berlusconi government was the 60th Cabinet (government), government of Politics of Italy, Italy, in office from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011. It was the fourth government led by Silvio Berlusconi, who then became the longest-serving ...

. She is currently the regional coordinator of

Brothers of Italy Brothers of Italy (, FdI) is a National conservatism, national-conservative and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Italy, that is currently the country's ruling party. After becoming the largest party in the 2022 Ita ...

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

and the

Minister of Tourism The Minister of Tourism is the head of the governmental department that specializes in tourism, recreation and/or culture. The position exists in many countries under several names: *Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania) *Ministry of Touri ...

in the

Meloni Cabinet The Meloni government is the 68th and current government of the Italy, Italian Republic, the first headed by Giorgia Meloni, leader of Brothers of Italy, who is also the first woman to hold the office of Prime Minister of Italy. The government w ...

Biography

Studies and personal life

Daniela Garnero was born in

Cuneo Cuneo (; ; ; ) is a city and in Piedmont, Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in the south-west of Piedmont, at the confluence of the ri ...

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, Italy. She moved to

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

to study

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, and at 21 married Paolo Santanchè, a plastic surgeon. She was employed by his company in an administrative role. After studying political science, in 1983 she founded a company that focused on

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

. She later acquired shares of the Billionaire company, along with

Flavio Briatore Flavio Briatore (; born 12 April 1950) is an Italian businessman, who serves as executive adviser and '' de facto'' team principal of Alpine in Formula One. As the longtime team principal of Team Enstone (Benetton Formula / Renault F1 Team ...

, Lele Mora, Paolo Brosio and

Marcello Lippi Marcello Romeo Lippi (; born 12 April 1948) is an Italian former professional association football, football player and manager, who led the Italy national football team, Italy national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appoin ...

. In 1995, she left her husband, Paolo Santanchè, and began a relationship with Canio Mazzaro, a

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

entrepreneur from

Potenza Potenza (, ; ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania). Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital and one of ...

. Her marriage to Paolo Santanchè was declared void by the

Roman Rota The Roman Rota, formally the Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota (), and anciently the Apostolic Court of Audience, is the highest appellate tribunal of the Catholic Church, with respect to both Latin Church members and the Eastern Catholic m ...

. In politics she has continued to use the Santanchè surname, despite an unsuccessful court case by her ex-husband to try to stop her. Her current partner is Dimitri Kunz d'Asburgo Lorena.

Local politics with National Alliance

In the 1990s, Santanchè became an assistant of

Ignazio La Russa Ignazio Benito Maria La Russa (born 18 July 1947) is an Italian politician who is serving as President of the Senate of the Republic (Italy), president of the Senate of the Republic since 2022 President of the Italian Senate election, 13 Octob ...

, and in 1995 joined the right-wing

National Alliance National Alliance may refer to: Electoral alliances *National Alliance (Egypt) (2015) * National Alliance (Ireland) (2024 onwards) * National Alliance (Pakistan) (2002-2004) *Nation Alliance (Turkey) (2018-2023) Political parties and organizations ...

. Santanchè worked as a consultant for the

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Municipality Board led by Gabriele Albertini, and in June 1999 was elected

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

of the Council of the

Province of Milan The province of Milan () was a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Milan. The area of the former province is highly urbanized, with more than 2,000 inhabitants/km2, the third-highest population density among Ital ...

. In 2001, Santanchè unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the

Italian Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies () is the lower house of the bicameral Italian Parliament, the upper house being the Senate of the Republic (Italy), Senate of the Republic. The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform ...

, but instead took up a seat vacated by her colleague

Viviana Beccalossi Viviana is a female given name, and may refer to: * ''Viviana'' (film), a 1916 American film * ''Viviana'' (telenovela), a 1978 Mexican telenovela * Saint Bibiana, or Viviana, 4th-century Roman martyr * Viviana (given name) See also * * Bibiana ...

. From 2003 to June 2004, Santanchè served as assessor of the Municipality of

Ragalna Ragalna is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about northwest of Catania. Points of interest include the Giardino Botanico "Nuova Gussonea", a b ...

, a town in the

province of Catania The province of Catania (; ) was a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, Italy. Its capital was the city of Catania. It had an area of and a total population of about 1,116,917 as of 31 December 2014. Historically known also as ...

, dealing with sports and events.

National politics with National Alliance

Santanchè held the position of chief of the department for

equal opportunity Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. For example, the intent of equal ...

for the National Alliance from 2005 to 2007. In 2005, Santanchè was harshly criticised when she showed her

middle finger The middle finger, long finger, second finger, third finger, toll finger or tall man is the third digit of the human hand, typically located between the index finger and the ring finger. It is typically the longest digit. In anatomy, it is al ...

, in a gesture of insult, towards a student protest against the Moratti school reform. Moreover, in 2005, Santanchè was nominated to hold the discussion of the annual Financial Law, the first woman in Italian history in such a role. In 2006, she was re-elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies with

in the constituency of

The Right and Movement for Italy

More than a year later, on 10 November 2007, Daniela Santanchè resigned from the National Alliance party to join

Francesco Storace Francesco Storace (born 25 January 1959) is an Italian politician and journalist. Biography Born in Cassino, in the Lazio region, Storace began his career at the right-wing newspaper '' Il Secolo d'Italia'' until entering the ranks of the Itali ...

's new party

The Right Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

. The same day, she was appointed official speaker for the party Santanchè was then the

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

candidate for The Right in the

2008 Italian general election A snap election was held in Italy on 13–14 April 2008. The election came after President of Italy, President Giorgio Napolitano dissolved the Italian Parliament on 6 February 2008, following the 2008 Italian political crisis, defeat of the gov ...

. Along with

Flavia D'Angeli Flavia (Latin for "blonde") may refer to: Places * Flavia Caesariensis, a 4th-century Roman province in the Diocese of the Britains * Flaviac, a commune in southern France People * Flavia (gens), the Roman clan and imperial dynasty * Flavia (na ...

(

Critical Left Critical Left (, SC) was a communism, communist and Trotskyism, Trotskyist List of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy, affiliated to the Fourth International (post-reunification), Fourth International. History Originally a Tr ...

) and Fabiana Stefanoni (

Communist Alternative Party The Communist Alternative Party (''Partito di Alternativa Comunista'', PdAC) is a communism, communist list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. Its leader and founder is Francesco Ricci (politician), Francesco Ricci. History ...

), she was the first woman to be a candidate for Italian prime minister. The Right did not acquire the necessary share of votes (4% for the Chamber, 8% for the Senate) to enter the Parliament and Daniela Santanchè therefore ended her parliamentary mandate. After seven years as deputy, she received

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

65,534 as termination indemnities (''trattamento di fine rapporto''), and €3,605 monthly as lifetime allowance. She declared that she will donate this to

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

. On 28 September 2008, after arguing with party secretary

, Santanchè left the party. Shortly afterwards, with Diego Zarneri and other former ''La Destra'' politicians, she founded the

Movement for Italy Movement for Italy (''Movimento per l'Italia'', MpI) was a conservative political party in Italy led by Daniela Santanchè. History In September 2008 Daniela Santanchè, spokeswoman of The Right and candidate for Prime Minister in the 2008 gen ...

(MpI) political movement, in order to come closer to

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...

People of Freedom The People of Freedom (, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL launched by Silvio Berlusconi as an electoral list, including and National Alliance, on 27 February for the 2008 Italian general election. The list was later t ...

Brothers of Italy

On 3 December 2017, Santanchè joined

(FdI) and attended the party congress in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

. During the

2018 Italian general election The 2018 Italian general election was held on 4 March 2018 after the Italian Parliament was Dissolution of parliament in Italy, dissolved by President Sergio Mattarella on 28 December 2017. Voters were electing the 630 members of the Chamber of ...

she was elected as a Senator in the

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

constituency, and was re-elected in 2022 with 52.17% of the votes. On 22 October 2022, she was sworn in as the

in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Giorgia Meloni Giorgia Meloni (; born 15 January 1977) is an Italian politician who has served as Prime Minister of Italy since 2022. She is the first woman to hold the office. A member of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy), Chamber of Deputies since 2006, s ...

Controversies

Positions on the Islamic veil and alleged assaults

On 22 October 2006, while she was participating in a live show, ''Controcorrente'', to discuss matters regarding the Islamic veil, Santanchè was criticized by the

Imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

Segrate Segrate ( ) is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) located in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy. An eastern suburb of Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy ...

. The

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

of Milan stated that her safety was at risk and he would consider the possibility of taking security measures to protect her. On 20 September 2009, she appeared with Diego Zarneri at the

Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main Islamic holidays, festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide becaus ...

religious holiday in Milan. According to Muslims, Santanchè tried to unveil some women, causing a reaction by local men. In her version, Santanchè said she had asked the police to intervene, alleging that Italian law bans appearing in public with a veil, and that she had made no contact with any Muslim woman. Afterwards, she declared she had been assaulted and beaten, but this was denied by Muslim eyewitnesses. At the hospital, she was examined and found to have

chest The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...

bruise A bruise, also known as a contusion, is a type of hematoma of tissue, the most common cause being capillaries damaged by trauma, causing localized bleeding that extravasates into the surrounding interstitial tissues. Most bruises occur c ...

s, that would take 20 days to heal. On 25 September on the ''

il Fatto Quotidiano (English: "The Daily Fact") is an Italian daily newspaper owned by Editoriale Il Fatto S.p.A. and published in Rome. It was founded on 23 September 2009 and was edited by until 2015, when Marco Travaglio became the editor. The three deputy edi ...

'' newspaper, a short video shot by Peacereporter seems to disprove any alleged assault on Santanchè. In the video, Santanchè is shown trying to cross the police barrier, while no assault on her is shown. Santanchè's lawyers dismissed the video as a fabrication, releasing a copy of the reports by the hospital and by the police.

2011 diploma scandal

On 22 March 2011, the magazine '' Oggi'' published an article stating that although on her resume Santanchè claimed to have an MBA from the

Bocconi University Bocconi University or Università Bocconi (formally known in Italian language, Italian as ''Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi'' – Luigi Bocconi Commercial University) is a private university in Milan, Italy. The university is consistently ...

, the university itself had no record of having awarded her any such degree. Santanchè did not resign, claimed she was telling the truth and threatened to sue the magazine for libel. No evidence of her degree has turned up, although it appears that she did attend another, unspecified, course at the university.

Tax fraud investigations

On 5 July 2023, it was found she had been under investigation for

false accounting False accounting is a legal term for a type of fraud, considered a statutory offence in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. England and Wales This offence is created by section 17 of the Theft Act 1968 which provides: ...

since September 2022. However, she did not resign from her position as minister and a motion of no confidence against her was rejected by the Senate on 26 July 2023 in a 67–111 vote. On 17 January 2025, a judge in

ordered her to face trial.

Electoral history

Notes

References

External links

'Mud-slinging divas battle over mantle of Mussolini', ''The Observer'', 30 March 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santanche, Daniela 1961 births Living people People from Cuneo National Alliance (Italy) politicians The Right (Italy) politicians The People of Freedom politicians Forza Italia (2013) politicians Brothers of Italy politicians Deputies of Legislature XIV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVII of Italy Senators of Legislature XVIII of Italy Politicians of Piedmont Women government ministers of Italy Italian neo-fascist politicians Italian critics of Islam 21st-century Italian women Meloni Cabinet Government ministers of Italy Women members of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy) Women members of the Senate of the Republic (Italy)