Francesco Rutelli
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Francesco Rutelli (born June 14 1954), MP, is an Italian politician, formerly Mayor of Rome, and president of the center wing liberal party Daisy-Democracy is Freedom.
Biography
Francesco Rutelli was born in Rome.
He first tried his hand at art and, in the mid 1970s, took part in some collective exhibitions in Roman art galleries, where he showed his surrealist collages. He entered in politics joining the Italian Radicals party, for which he was then elected secretary in 1980, when aged just 26; with the Italian Radicals, Rutelli championed libertarian and secular policies such as legalising abortion, the legalisation of cannabis and unilateral disarmament. First elected as deputy in 1983, confirming his office in 1987 and 1992, he then joined the Federation of the Greens in the late 1980s, becoming one of the party's leading figures, and embracing environmental campaigns.
He was then chosen as Ministry of Environment and Urban Areas in 1993, office he resigned just after one day. That same years, he was first elected Mayor of Rome as centre-left coalition candidate, defeating Gianfranco Fini. He held the position until 2001.
He served as European Deputy from 1999 to 2004. From the mid-1990s onwards his views appeared increasingly closer to the centre of the Italian political spectrum, accommodating policies normally associated with the Catholic Centre and the Vatican.
In 2001, he was defeated by Silvio Berlusconi in the general election as candidate premier for the left-wing Olive Tree. He was also one of the founders of the Democratici (Democrats) party, now part of Daisy-Democracy is Freedom, of which it is current leader.
Francesco Rutelli's role in the Daisy (a party with strong ties with Italian Christian heritage) is often considered a singular achievement after a fairly erratic journey within Italian progressive politics, mainly because of his past libertarian and green experiences.
Miscellaneous
- Rutelli is an ardent supporter of Roman football club S.S. Lazio.
- His nicknames include Cicciobello (from the name of a favourite Italian male doll, referring to his pleasant appearance) and Er Cicoria (in Romanesco dialect, "chicory man"). He received the latter after a polemical speech in which, in reply to criticism against his allegedly ambiguous politics, he declared that he had been "eating bread and chicory for months" to keep up the centre-left coalition.
- His favourite food is bucatini all'amatriciana, a pasta dish typical of the roman cooking.
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