Dario Franceschini

Onorevole Dario Franceschini
Chairman of the Democratic Party of Italy
In office February 21, 2009 – October 25, 2009
Preceded by	Walter Veltroni
Succeeded by	Pier Luigi Bersani
Personal details
Born	October 19, 1958 (1958-10-19) (age 53) Ferrara, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Silvia Bombardi
Children	Caterina, Maria Elena
Residence	Rome, Italy
Alma mater	University of Ferrara
Profession	Lawyer Writer
Religion	Roman Catholic

Dario Franceschini (born October 19, 1958 in Ferrara)^[1] is an Italian lawyer, writer, and politician, who served as the second leader of the Democratic Party.^[2][3] He has been a prominent member of the Italian People's Party (PPI), of the Daisy and the first Deputy Secretary of the Democratic Party.^[1] Following the resignation of Walter Veltroni, on February 21, 2009 the Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Party elected him the new Secretary.^[2][3] On 25 October 2009 he lost the leadership election to Pier Luigi Bersani, and subsequently accepted his offer to become the party's Leader in the Chamber of Deputies.^[4]

Biography

Franceschini started his political career as a student in the Liceo scientifico "Antonio Roiti" and in the University of Ferrara.^[1] He joined the Christian Democracy shortly after the nomination of Benigno Zaccagnini as National Secretary, and after two years he was elected provincial delegate of the Young Christian Democrats.^[1] He was elected city councillor in Ferrara in 1980, 1985 and 1990.^[1] In 1985 he graduated from the University of Ferrara and started practicing civil law.^[1]

At the 1993 Constituent Assembly of the Christian Democracy (which would soon turn into the Italian People's Party), Franceschini voted for an alliance with the left.^[1] When the next year the PPI entered the general election in a centrist coalition, the Pact for Italy, he left the party.^[1] He subsequently founded the Christian Socials movement, and in 1995 he ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Ferrara, winning about 20% of the votes.^[1]

Following the birth of the Olive Tree coalition, Franceschini re-entered the Italian People's Party, and from 1997 to 1999 he was its Deputy Secretary and Coordinator.^[1] He was appointed Undersecretary for Institutional Reforms in the D'Alema II Cabinet, and he maintained this position in the Amato II Cabinet.^[1][5] In the 2001 general election he was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in Ferrara College 9, and he became a member of the Constitutional Affairs Commission of the Chamber.^[6]

In 2001, Franceschini was a founding member of the Daisy and in 2002 he was named Executive Coordinator of the party.^[1] In the 2006 general election he was re-elected Deputy for the XI constituency of Emilia-Romagna and he was appointed Leader of the Olive Tree group in the Chamber.^[7] When the Daisy was merged with the Democrats of the Left to form the new Democratic Party on October 14, 2007, Secretary Walter Veltroni chose him as his Deputy.^[3]

In the 2008 general election, Franceschini was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the third time.^[8] After a series of electoral defeats for the Democratic Party, Secretary Walter Veltroni resigned in February 2009.^[2][3] The Constituent Assembly of the party convened on February 21, 2009 to choose a new leader and appointed Franceschini Secretary with 1,047 votes out of 1,258. His only opponent Arturo Parisi won just 92 votes.^[2][3]

Franceschini is married with two daughters. He has written two novels which were published in 2006 and 2007.^[5]

Works

• Il Partito popolare a Ferrara: cattolici, socialisti e fascisti nella terra di Grosoli e don Minzoni (1985)^[9]
• Nelle vene quell'acqua d'argento (2006)^[10]
• La follia improvvisa di Ignazio Rando (2007)^[11]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} "Dario Franceschini – Biography". Democratic Party. http://www.partitodemocratico.it/gw/producer/producer.aspx?t=/documenti/author.htm&auth=33. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} "Italy's Left gets new leader". France 24. 2009-02-22. http://www.france24.com/en/20090221-italys-left-gets-new-leader-. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Italian opposition elects leader". BBC News. 2009-02-21. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7904052.stm. Retrieved 2009-02-21. 
4. ^ "PD: Franceschini accetta offerta Bersani, sarà capogruppo alla Camera" (in Italian). ASCA. November 4, 2009. http://www.asca.it/news-PD__FRANCESCHINI_ACCETTA_OFFERTA_BERSANI__SARA__CAPOGRUPPO_ALLA_CAMERA-872176-ORA-.html. Retrieved November 4, 2009. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "Italian left elects Franceschini to succeed Veltroni". Agence France-Presse. 2009-02-21. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h3j2xMKNj-ehi6-Cd1yUnI_8Vwgw. Retrieved 2009-02-21. 
6. ^ "Chamber of Deputies – XIV Legislature". Italian Chamber of Deputies. http://legxiv.camera.it/organiparlamentari/assemblea/contenitore_dati.asp?tipopagina=&deputato=d300246&source=%2Fdeputatism%2F240%2Fdocumentoxml%2Easp&position=Deputati%5CLa%20Scheda%20Personale&Pagina=Deputati/Composizione/01.camera/nuovacomposizione/datpersonali2.asp%3Fdeputato=d300246&nominativo=FRANCESCHINI%20Dario. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 
7. ^ "Chamber of Deputies – XV Legislature". Italian Chamber of Deputies. http://leg15.camera.it/cartellecomuni/leg15/include/contenitore_dati.asp?tipopagina=&deputato=d300246&source=%2Fdeputatism%2F240%2Fdocumentoxml%2Easp&position=Deputati\La%20Scheda%20Personale&Pagina=Deputati/Composizione/SchedeDeputati/SchedeDeputati.asp%3Fdeputato=d300246&Vis=1&Nominativo=FRANCESCHINI%20Dario. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 
8. ^ "Chamber of Deputies – XVI Legislature". Italian Chamber of Deputies. http://www.camera.it/cartellecomuni/leg16/include/contenitore_dati.asp?tipopagina=&deputato=d300246&source=%2Fdeputatism%2F240%2Fdocumentoxml%2Easp&position=Deputati\La%20Scheda%20Personale&Pagina=Deputati/Composizione/SchedeDeputati/SchedeDeputati.asp%3Fdeputato=d300246&Nominativo=FRANCESCHINI%20Dario. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 
9. ^ Franceschini, Dario (1985). Il Partito popolare a Ferrara. CLUEB. ISBN 9788849106091. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=enB7FFszEdQC&pgis=1. 
10. ^ Franceschini, Dario (2006). Nelle vene quell'acqua d'argento. Tascabili Bompiani. ISBN 8845256006. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oL0bAAAACAAJ. 
11. ^ Franceschini, Dario (2007). La follia improvvisa di Ignazio Rando. Bompiani. ISBN 8845259455. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0dJPGQAACAAJ. 

External links

• (Italian) Official website

Italian Chamber of Deputies
Preceded by Alfredo Zagatti	Deputy for Ferrara College 9 2001–2006	College abolished
Preceded by Title jointly held	Deputy for Emilia-Romagna 2006–present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by ?	Italian Undersecretary for Institutional Reforms 1999–2001	Succeeded by Aldo Brancher, Gian Paolo Gobbo
Party political offices
New title	Deputy Secretary and Coordinator of the Italian People's Party 1997–1999	Succeeded by Enrico Letta (as Deputy Secretary) Lapo Pistelli (as Coordinator)
New title	Executive Coordinator of the Daisy 2001–2006	Succeeded by Antonello Soro
Preceded by Pierluigi Castagnetti	Olive Tree Leader in the Chamber of Deputies 2006–2007	Party dissolved
New title	Deputy Secretary of the Democratic Party 2007–2009	Enrico Letta
Preceded by Walter Veltroni	Secretary of the Democratic Party 2009	Succeeded by Pier Luigi Bersani
Preceded by Antonello Soro	Democratic Party Leader in the Chamber of Deputies 2009–present	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Franceschini, Dario
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1958-10-19
Place of birth	Ferrara, Italy
Date of death
Place of death