Mariastella Gelmini | |
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| Minister of Regional Affairs and Autonomies | |
| In office 13 February 2021 – 22 October 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Mario Draghi |
| Preceded by | Francesco Boccia |
| Succeeded by | Roberto Calderoli |
| Minister of Education, University and Research | |
| In office 8 May 2008 – 16 November 2011 | |
| Prime Minister | Silvio Berlusconi |
| Preceded by | Giuseppe Fioroni |
| Succeeded by | Francesco Profumo |
| Member of the Senate | |
| Assumed office 13 October 2022 | |
| Constituency | Lombardy |
| Member of the Chamber of Deputies | |
| In office 28 April 2006 – 13 October 2022 | |
| Constituency | Lombardy 2 (2006–2018) Desenzano del Garda (2018–2022) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1973-07-01)1 July 1973 (age 52) |
| Political party | Us Moderates (2024-present) |
| Other political affiliations | FI (1994–2009) PdL (2009–2013) FI (2013–2022) Action (2022-2024) |
| Spouse | Giorgio Patelli (since 2010)[1] |
| Children | Emma Patelli[2] |
| Alma mater | University of Brescia |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Mariastella Gelmini (born 1 July 1973) is an Italian politician andattorney (specialised inadministrative law). She served asItalian Minister of Education in theBerlusconi IV Cabinet until 16 November 2011. She served as minister of Regional Affairs and Autonomies in theDraghi Cabinet from 2021 to 2022.
Member of theForza Italia political movement ofSilvio Berlusconi since its foundation in 1994, during the same year she becamechairperson of the "Azzurri" club inDesenzano del Garda settling the first representation of Forza Italia in theProvince of Brescia.
In 1998 she was the first elected in the administrative poll inDesenzano del Garda and became the president of the city council until 2000, in which year a motion of no confidence against her eventually passed.[3]
Gelmini passed herbar exam in 2001 inReggio Calabria, far away from her home town and the university where she graduated, as the academic standards in that city were low and pass rate suspiciously high.[4]
In 2002 she was elected as councillor of the Province of Brescia. During her term in office she devised the "Piano Territoriale di Coordinamento Provinciale", by virtue of which the environmentally protected areas ofParco della rocca e del sasso di Manerba,Parco delle colline di Brescia andParco del lago Moro were established.
In 2005 she was elected as member of the regional council ofLombardy resulting the most voted candidate among the Lombard constituencies. After this electoral success, she becameForza Italia's political chief inLombardy, becoming a coordinatore regionale.
In 2006 Mariastella Gelmini was elected as member of theChamber of Deputies, thelower house of theItalian Parliament.
On 18 November 2007, she was in Piazza San Babila inMilan when Silvio Berlusconi announced the birth ofThe People of Freedom political movement and subsequently she became a member of the founding committee of the party. Since 2008 she has served in the Italian Government as Minister of Education in theBerlusconi IV Cabinet. In the same year she was re-elected in the Chamber of Deputies.
On 20 July 2022, she left Forza Italia after the confidence vote for the Draghi government failed to pass and the party choice to abstain.
In October 2008 demonstrations took place across Italy against the school reform proposed by Gelmini. In 2009 the reform was approved.[5][6] On 8 October 2010 further demonstrations by students occurred in all the major Italian cities against Gelmini's recent reforms.[7][full citation needed]On 14 December 2010, when Gelmini's school budget cuts law was enacted, millions of students expressed their contempt, resulting in more than 20 million in damages to the capital, Rome.[6]
On 23 September 2011 she attracted widespread criticism for a statement released on the Education ministry website, with regard to the breakthrough at the Gran Sasso laboratory in Abruzzo, Italy, whereneutrinos were recorded at a speed greater than the speed of light.The statement wrongly declares that the Italian Government had contributed to building a tunnel between theGran Sasso National Laboratory andCERN in Switzerland. Such a tunnel does not exist. The two locations are approximately 750 km apart. This statement caused controversy both in and outside Italy, and spawned a wave of jokes on the Internet making fun of the announcement.[8]Gelmini defended herself saying that her declaration referred to the tunnel used only to send the first flux of neutrinos;Giovanni Bignami, president of "Istituto nazionale di astrofisica", defended Minister's statement.[9]
| Election | House | Constituency | Party | Votes | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Chamber of Deputies | Lombardy 2 | FI | –[a] |  YElected | |
| 2008 | Chamber of Deputies | Lombardy 2 | PdL | –[a] | YElected | |
| 2013 | Chamber of Deputies | Lombardy 2 | PdL | –[a] | YElected | |
| 2018 | Chamber of Deputies | Desenzano del Garda | FI | 77,534 | YElected | |
| 2022 | Senate of the Republic | Lombardy | A-IV | –[a] | YElected | |
| 2018 general election (C):Lombardy —Desenzano del Garda | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Coalition or Party | Votes | % | |
| Mariastella Gelmini | Centre-right coalition | 77,534 | 51.6 | |
| Luca Lorenzo Castigliego | Five Star Movement | 31,958 | 21.3 | |
| Maria Chiara Soldini | Centre-left coalition | 30,743 | 20.5 | |
| Simone Zuin | Free and Equal | 3,520 | 2.3 | |
| Chiara Violini | CasaPound | 1,993 | 1.3 | |
| Sara Prandini | The People of the Family | 1,526 | 1.0 | |
| Annalisa Baldrati | Power to the People! | 988 | 0.7 | |
| Others | 1,848 | 1.3 | ||
| Total | 150,110 | 100.0 | ||
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byas Minister of Education | Italian Minister of Education, University and Research 2008–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byas Minister of University and Research | ||
| Preceded by | Italian Minister of Regional Affairs 2021–present | Succeeded by Incumbent |
Berlusconi IV Cabinet (2008–2011) | ||
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| National | |
