Laura Boldrini

The Honourable Laura Boldrini OMRI MP
President of the Chamber of Deputies
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 March 2013
President	Giorgio Napolitano Sergio Mattarella
Preceded by	Gianfranco Fini
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 March 2013
Constituency	Sicily 2
Personal details
Born	(1961-04-28) 28 April 1961[1] Macerata,[1] Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	Left Ecology Freedom[1]
Spouse(s)	Luca Nicosia (divorced)[2]
Children	Anastasia Nicosia[2]
Alma mater	Sapienza University of Rome
Profession	Journalist Politician

Laura Boldrini, OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [ˈlaura bolˈdriːni]; born 28 April 1961)^[1] is an Italian journalist and politician who has been President of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy since 16 March 2013.^[1] Previously she was a spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Biography

Laura Boldrini with Giorgio Napolitano and Pietro Grasso

Born in Macerata, Marche, Boldrini graduated in Law from the Sapienza University of Rome in 1985. Afterwards, she was employed at the Italian public service broadcasting corporation RAI, working both for television and radio. In 1989 she was employed for four years at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), where she was active in video and radio production.

From 1993 until 1998 she worked at the World Food Programme (WFP) as the Italian spokesperson. From 1998 to 2012 she was spokesperson of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), for whom she also coordinated public information campaigns in Southern Europe. In recent years she has specifically dealt with the influx of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean. She has taken part in numerous missions to crisis spots, including the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Caucasus, Angola and Rwanda.

Boldrini was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in the 2013 parliamentary election as an independent candidate in the Left Ecology Freedom party list, who together with their coalition allies in the Democratic Party and in Italy Common Good hold the majority of seats in the lower house. She represents the second electoral district of Sicily.

On 16 March 2013, following a meeting between the Democratic Party and Left Ecology Freedom, Boldrini was proposed by the coalition Italy Common Good as candidate for the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies. She was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies on the same day, receiving 327 votes out of a possible 618. She is the third woman, after Nilde Iotti (1979 to 1992) and Irene Pivetti (1994–1996), to fill this role.

Honours and decorations

National Honors

•  Italy : Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic on February 26, 2004^[3]
•  Italy, Montecassiano (MC) : Primadonna 2008^[4]
•  Italy: Renato Benedetto Fabrizi 2011^[5]

Foreign Honors

•  Albania : Honorary Citizen of the City of Kukës ^[6]
• Skanderbeg's Order (Albania, 13 October 2016) – decorated by President of Albania Bujar Nishani^{[7] [8]}

Writings

Books

• Tutti indietro (in Italian). Milano: Rizzoli. 2010. p. 216. ISBN 978-88-17-03990-1.  BUR edition: 2013. ISBN 978-88-586-4488-1.
• Solo le montagne non si incontrano mai. Storia di Murayo e dei suoi due padri (in Italian). Milano: Rizzoli. 2013. p. 162. ISBN 978-88-586-4347-1. 

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Laura Boldrini.

• (Italian) Official website
• (Italian) Laura Boldrini on Twitter
  
• (Italian) Official website on Facebook