Paola De Micheli

Paola De Micheli
Paola De Micheli in 2019.
Minister of Infrastructure and Transport
In office 5 September 2019 – 13 February 2021
Prime Minister	Giuseppe Conte
Preceded by	Danilo Toninelli
Succeeded by	Enrico Giovannini
Deputy Secretary of the Democratic Party
In office 17 April 2019 – 5 September 2019 Serving with Andrea Orlando
Leader	Nicola Zingaretti
Preceded by	Maurizio Martina
Succeeded by	Andrea Orlando
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 April 2008
Constituency	Emilia-Romagna
Personal details
Born	(1973-09-01) 1 September 1973 (age 51) Piacenza, Italy
Political party	DC (1989–1994) PPI (1994–2002) DL (2002–2007) PD (since 2007)
Alma mater	Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Occupation	Manager, politician

Paola De Micheli (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpaːola de miˈkɛːli]; born 1 September 1973) is an Italian manager and politician of the Democratic Party (PD), who served as Minister of Infrastructure and Transport in the government of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte from 2019 until 2021;[1] she was the first woman to hold the office.[2]

Early life and education

De Micheli graduated in political sciences at the Catholic University in Milan and worked as a manager in the agri-food industry.

Political career

Early beginnings

Born in a Catholic family and herself Catholic,[3] at 16 De Micheli joined Christian Democracy (DC). A centre-left Christian Democrat, she later joined the Italian People's Party (PPI) and Democracy is Freedom (DL).[4][5][6] Her first elective role was as municipal councilor of Pontenure from 1999 to 2004. In 2007, along with DL, she joined the Democratic Party (PD). From 2007 to 2010 she was municipal minister for Human and Economic Resources in Piacenza.

In the 2008 Italian general election, De Micheli was elected to the Chamber of Deputies and during the 2009 PD leadership election, she supported Pier Luigi Bersani, later elected secretary, who appointed her as new party manager for small and medium-sized enterprises.[7]

Once re-elected deputy at the 2013 Italian general election,[8] De Micheli has been appointed Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy in the Renzi Cabinet and the Gentiloni Cabinet, holding the seat from 2014 to 2017.[9] In September 2017, De Micheli left her office at the Ministry of Economy to replace Vasco Errani as new Commissioner for the reconstruction of the areas hit by the 2016 and 2017 earthquakes.[10]

De Micheli was re-elected for the third time to the Chamber of Deputies at the 2018 Italian general election.[11] During the 2019 PD leadership election, she supported Nicola Zingaretti;[12] once Zingaretti was elected Secretary, De Micheli's name came out as new possible Deputy Secretary of the PD.[13]

Minister of Infrastructure and transport

On 5 September 2019, De Micheli was appointed Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, in the government of Giuseppe Conte, who led a coalition between Democrats and the Five Star Movement.[14]

References

1. Paola De Micheli ministra delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti del governo Conte bis
2. Paola De Micheli, prima donna ministro delle infrastrutture
3. Cerami, Gabriella (8 April 2023). "Paola De Micheli: "Il Pd di Schlein esclude i cattolici. Vedo molto movimentismo e poco partito"". HuffPost (in Italian). Retrieved 8 April 2023.
4. "Da Toninelli a Paola de Micheli, la squadra del Governo Conte-bis".
5. ""A 18 anni pensai di entrare in convento"".
6. "Paola de Micheli, il ritratto della ministra Pd: La reginetta dei pomodori che fallì come amministratrice di cooperative".
7. "Paola de Micheli, chi è il nuovo commissario alla ricostruzione post-sisma". Il Messaggero. 6 September 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
8. "In Parlamento tre piacentini del Pd, Tommaso Foti è fuori". ilpiacenza.it. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
9. "I sottosegretari del governo Gentiloni – Paola De Micheli". Il Post. 29 December 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
10. "Terremoto, Paola De Micheli nuovo commissario alla ricostruzione". La Repubblica. 6 September 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
11. "Piacenza ha cinque parlamentari: entrano anche De Micheli (Pd) e Murelli (Lega), oltre a Bersani (LeU)". ilpiacenza.it. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
12. "Paola De Micheli apre i lavori di "Piazza Grande", l'incontro promosso da Nicola Zingaretti". ilpiacenza.it. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
13. "Chi è Paola De Micheli, candidata a essere la vice di Zingaretti nel Pd". La Repubblica. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
14. Paola De Micheli, chi è il nuovo Ministro delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti

External links

• Files about her parliamentary activities (in Italian): XVI, XVII, XVIII legislature.