Walter Veltroni
|
Walter Veltroni, mayor of Rome |
Walter Veltroni (born
3 July,
1955) is an
Italian politician and member of the
Democrats of the Left (DS) party. He has served as
Mayor of Rome since
2001, and is widely considered the most popular mayor in Italy.
Walter Veltroni was born in
Rome.
He started his political career as member of the
Italian Young Communist Federation, then served as Rome city counsellor from
1976 to
1981, before being elected as Member of Parliament for the first time in
1987. Chosen as a member of the
Italian Communist Party's national secretariat in
1988, he played a lead role in the party's transformation to the social-democratic party it is today.
Veltroni, a professional journalist, was chosen from
1992 to
1996 as editor-in-chief of the newspaper of the
Democratic Party of the Left (later the
DS),
L'Unità. He then successfully ran as vice-premier candidate, together with
Romano Prodi, for the
1996 national election in Italy. He left his job in office in
1998, subsequent to his election as National Secretary of the Democrats of the Left.
As a candidate in 2001 for the office of Mayor of Rome, he eventually won the election against
Antonio Tajani of
Forza Italia, Veltroni resigned as leader of the party.
On
January 1,
2006 Veltroni received the
Cavaliere di Gran Croce (Knight of the Great Cross), Italy's highest award, from
President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
On
May 29,
2006, Veltroni was confirmed Mayor of Rome, beating the former
Minister of Agriculture Gianni Alemanno, of
National Alliance. Veltroni received 61,4% of the valid votes against the 37,1% achieved by his main opponent.
Veltroni has written a number of books on various topics, such as music, social issues, fiction, biographies and, of course, politics.
*
1977 -
Il PCI e la questione giovanile (
The PCI and the Youth Question)
*
1978 -
A dieci anni dal '68. Intervista con Achille Occhetto (
Ten Years since '68: Interview with Achille Occhetto)
*1981 -
Il sogno degli anni sessanta (
The dream of the Sixties)
*
1982 -
Il calcio è una scienza da amare (
Football is a science to be loved)
*
1990 -
Io e Berlusconi (e la Rai) (
Berlusconi and me (and RAI))
*1992 -
I programmi che hanno cambiato l'Italia (
Programs that changed Italty)
*1992 -
Il sogno spezzato. Le idee di Robert Kennedy (
The broken dream. The ideas of Robert Kennedy)
*1992 -
La sfida interrotta. Le idee di Enrico Berlinguer (
The interrupted challenge. The ideas of Enrico Berlinguer)
*
1994 -
Certi piccoli amori (
Certain small Loves)
*
1995 -
La bella politica (interview book) (
Politics, the beautiful)
*
1997 -
Certi piccoli amori 2 (
Certain Small Loves II)
*1997 -
Governare da sinistra (
To Govern from the Left)
*
2000 -
I care *2000 -
Forse Dio è malato. Diario di un viaggio africano (
Perhaps God is sick: Diary of an African journey)
*
2003 -
Il disco del mondo. Vita breve di Luca Flores, musicista (
The disk of the world: A brief life of Luca Flores, musician)
*
2004 -
Senza Patricio (
Without Patricio)
*Veltroni is the Italian dubber of character Mayor Turkey Lurkey for the animated
movie Chicken Little, released by
Walt Disney Pictures in late
2005. His remuneration for the part was donated to charity. [
1]
*Even though a native of Rome, Veltroni is a well-known supporter of
Juventus, a
football team from
Turin.
*He is a friend of
singer-songwriter Francesco De Gregori and film director
Nanni Moretti. In the
1990s, both of them appeared alongisde Veltroni in some celebrations after political elections in Italy.
*
Repubblica.it: A brief portrait of Veltroni*
World Mayors: Walter Veltroni *
Article about Walter Veltroni from Time magazine 
