Letizia Moratti

Letizia Moratti
Vice President and Assessor of Welfare of Lombardy
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 January 2021
President	Attilio Fontana
Mayor of Milan
In office 1 June 2006 – 1 June 2011
Preceded by	Gabriele Albertini
Succeeded by	Giuliano Pisapia
Minister of Education, University and Research
In office 11 June 2001 – 17 May 2006
Prime Minister	Silvio Berlusconi
Preceded by	Tullio De Mauro (Public Education) Ortensio Zecchino (University and Research)
Succeeded by	Giuseppe Fioroni (Public Education) Fabio Mussi (University and Research)
President of RAI
In office 12 July 1994 – 24 April 1996
Preceded by	Claudio Demattè
Succeeded by	Giuseppe Morello
Personal details
Born	Letizia Maria Brichetto Arnaboldi (1949-11-26) 26 November 1949 (age 71) Milan, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	FI (1994–2009) PdL (2009–2013) FI (since 2013)
Spouse(s)	Gian Marco Moratti ​ ​ (m. 1973; died 2018)​
Children	Gilda Moratti Gabriele Moratti
Alma mater	University of Milan
Occupation	Company manager, politician

Letizia Moratti (née Letizia Brichetto Arnaboldi; Milan, 26 November 1949) is an Italian businesswoman and politician. She was president of RAI (1994-1996), minister of Education, University and Research (2001-2006), mayor of Milan (2006-2011) and president of the board of directors of UBI Banca (2019-2020). In January 2021 she was appointed vice president and assessor of Welfare of Lombardy.

Biography[]

Moratti was born in Milan. She graduated in political science from the University of Milan. She was married to the oil magnate Gianmarco Moratti (brother of Massimo Moratti) and has two children, Gabriele and Gilda. She is the granddaughter of Mimina Brichetto Arnaboldi,an intellectual society lady who hosted an important salon in Milan in the years before the Second World War, and who was also an ardent anti-fascist.^{[citation needed]}

Moratti is a businesswoman who has worked in insurance and telecommunications. Between 1994 and 1996 she was chairperson of the Italian state television company RAI. At the end of 1998, and for about a year, she became chairman of News Corp Europe, a company headed by Rupert Murdoch and owner of Stream TV.

From 2001 to 2006, she was Minister of Education, University and Research in the second and third Berlusconi cabinets. During her mandate, she put forward a reform of the education system that was named after her as Riforma Moratti.

She ran for Mayor of Milan in the 2006 municipal election as the House of Freedoms candidate and won with over 52% of votes.^[1] She sought a second term in 2011, but lost to the centre-left candidate Giuliano Pisapia.

Mayor of Milan (2006–2011)[]

Letizia Moratti with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano at Palazzo Mezzanotte (2006)

Expo 2015[]

Under Moratti, Milan was selected in 2007 as hosting city for the Expo 2015. Its rival İzmir, Turkey, lost for 61 votes against 86 in the Bureau des Expositions gather in the Palais des congrès of Paris.^[2] Moratti was Commissioner of the Expo until 2011, when after her electoral lost, resigned herself as Commissioner, out of respect for the new administration.^[3]

Parks[]

The Moratti Administration also continued the Gabriele Albertini's parkings program, and in 2006 created 64,000 underground parking spaces, also in neighborhoods like Naviglio Grande and Sant'Ambrogio's zone.^[4] In 2007 Moratti launched the "Cycle Mobiliting Plan", that foreseed 53 km of cycling infrastructures, 2,385 new racks in 1,174 different localities, with 5,000 bikes and 250 stations in all city within 2011. In 2008 Moratti created the Ecopass, a road pricing, in the Milan Center. This decision received several critics also in his majority. In 2010 she also launched the use of public electric car in various zones of her city.^[5][6]

Moratti proposed unsuccessfully a park dedicated to Bettino Craxi, the controversial Socialist leader who died while exiled in Tunisia in 2000.^[7]

Assessor of Welfare and Vice President of Lombardy (2021–present)[]

In January 2021, she was appointed Vice President and Assessor of Welfare in the Regional Cabinet of Lombardy.

Controversies[]

• In 2006, Moratti was accused of fire 10 dirigents of the city. For this spoils system, Moratti was convicted for office's abuse. However, the sentence was archivied because her acts weren't illegal.
• She served in the city council only 6 presences in 2008 and 3 in 2009.
• In 2007, Moratti intervened to prevent the opening of Art and Homosexuality - From von Gloeden to Pierre et Gilles at the Palazzo della Ragione in Milan. Curated by Eugenio Viola, promoted by Vittorio Sgarbi, Moratti backed objections to the exhibition from Catholic politicians insisted that it would only proceed if a blacklist of works were removed on the ground that they could be offensive for Catholics and unsuitable for children.
• Moratti appointed Lucio Stanca, a member of the Chamber of Deputies, as managing director for the Expo 2015, despite the vote of the city council against her decision.^[8]
• In 2010, a civil court complainted against Moratti Administration, the Minister Roberto Maroni and the prefect of Milan Gan Valerio Lombardi for the lack appointment of popular houses to 10 Romani families, called it as "racist gesture".^[9] The accuseds justified themselves like the Romani are a nomadic people.

References[]