Massimo D’alema
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Vice Premier of Italy
Born in Rome on April 20th, 1949, Massimo D’Alema got his diploma from a classical secondary school and studied Philosophy at the University of Pisa. A professional journalist, he has collaborated with “Città Futura”, “Rinascita” and “l’Unità,” where he was the editor from 1988 to 1990. His political work began in 1963, when he joined the Federazione giovanile comunista italiana (FGCI – Italian Communist Youth Federation), and was the national secretary from 1975 to 1980. His first Italian Communist Party (PCI) membership card is from 1968. He was among the young leaders who participated in the “shift” which, in 1989, with Achille Occhetto, transformed the PCI into the PDS (Democratic Party of the Left). On July 1st, 1994 he was elected National Secretary of the PDS. He entered the Chamber of Deputies the first time in 1987. He was re-elected in 1992, when he became President of the group of PDS members of parliament. In 1994 he was nominated, with the new uninominal electoral system, in the 11th constituency of Puglia, and was reconfirmed on April 21st, 1996. On February 5th, 1997 he was elected President of the parliamentary commission for institutional reforms which, on November 4th of the same year, proposed to the Chairmans of the two Chambers a project regarding constitutional law in which the second part of the Constitution was revised. From October 21st, 1998 to April 2000 he was the Prime Minister. He is also the President of the Foundation of Italian-European political culture. In June 2004 he was elected to the European Parliament in which he was the President of the Permanent Delegation for relations between the European Union and the Mercosur. On April 9th, 2006 he was elected as a member of parliament for the Ulivo party in the Puglia constituency. On May 17th, 2006 he was appointed Vice Premier of Italy and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Prodi administration.