Sandro Bondi
Encyclopedia
Sandro Bondi is an Italian politician of The People of Freedom
. He was appointed on 8 May 2008 to be Culture Minister until March 23, 2011 in Silvio Berlusconi
's fourth cabinet
.
, province of Massa-Carrara
, Italy. He first attended school at Lausanne
, where his emigrant father had settled. The family later returned to Italy
and at a young age Sandro joined the Italian Communist Youth Federation
, soon becoming its secretary in Lunigiana
. He gained a laurea
in philosophy
from the University of Pisa
with a dissertation on Leonardo Valazzana, precursor of the Augustinian order
and opponent of Girolamo Savonarola
.
A Catholic democrat, he campaigned for the Italian Communist Party
, and was elected mayor of Fivizzano
in 1990. In 1992 the town council led by him was overturned by the local Socialist Party
, in association with Christian Democracy
. Activists already playfully compared him to a ravanello (radish
): that is, red on the outside but white on the inside. Following these events he left the PCI
.
Subsequently getting to know Silvio Berlusconi
via the sculptor Pietro Cascella
, he became Berlusconi's secretary, collaborator and faithful advisor, so much so that - for Berlusconi's 2001 campaign - he was given the task of quickly coordinating the compilation of Una storia italiana (An Italian Story), a book of photographs on Berlusconi's public and private life, as electoral propaganda for future elections (as used by all Italian families).
Bondi returned the great trust accorded him by Berlusconi by over the years becoming one of his main supporters, publicly proclaiming his devotion and fidelity to him on several occasions, as well as in poems he composed and read on television programmes, which were a major target for his critics and for satirists.
In the 2001 general election
he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies
for Berlusconi's Forza Italia
party in the III circoscrizione (Lombardia 1). In the campaign for the 2005 regional elections
he organised the party's communications and was the same year named the party's coordinator. In the 2006 general election
he was re-elected to the Chamber, elected from the results of circoscrizione XX (Campania
2). In the meantime he collaborated with Vanity Fair
on a poetry page. In summer 2006 he published his latest sayings under the title "Laici e credenti: una fede comune".
In the course of the 2008 general election
he participated in hustings in several Italian towns, as well as one in teatro Fenaroli in the city of Lanciano
, where he declared that he did not wish to leave Berlusconi alone in government, as had been done in the past, thus leaving an invitation for all to lean on and encourage him. In the 2008 election, he was a People of Freedom candidate for Senate
for the Tuscany
region, as well as a centre-right candidate for president of the Province of Massa-Carrara
. He was elected to the Senate, and he reached the second ballot for the provincial presidency with Osvaldo Angeli (candidate for the centre-left Democratic Party
), which Angeli then won with 55.4% of the vote, against Bondi's 46%.
In 2008 he was made Culture minister in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet
, relinquishing his post as national co-ordinator of Forza Italia
to Denis Verdini. He still holds this ministry, and during his tenure of it he has announced the appointment of a special commissioner for the ruins at Pompeii
and been censured for criticising modern art and architecture.
The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system....
. He was appointed on 8 May 2008 to be Culture Minister until March 23, 2011 in Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
's fourth cabinet
Berlusconi IV Cabinet
Berlusconi IV Cabinet has been the cabinet of the government of Italy from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011.As of July 2011, it was composed of 24 ministers, 4 deputy ministers and 39 under-secretaries, for a total of 67 members.-Sources:*...
.
Biography
Bondi was born in FivizzanoFivizzano
Fivizzano, a walled city in the province of Massa-Carrara, Tuscany , became part of the Republic of Florence in the 15th century thus gaining the Tuscan republic an important foothold in Lunigiana, a key region which Genoa, Pisa, Milan and Florence had sought to dominate since the early Middle Ages...
, province of Massa-Carrara
Province of Massa-Carrara
The Province of Massa and Carrara , until 2009 Province of Massa-Carrara, is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is named after the two main towns in its territory: Carrara and Massa, its capital.-History:...
, Italy. He first attended school at Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, where his emigrant father had settled. The family later returned to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and at a young age Sandro joined the Italian Communist Youth Federation
Italian Communist Youth Federation
The Italian Communist Youth Federation was the youth wing of the Partito Comunista Italiano , and the direct heir of the Federazione Giovanile Comunista d'Italia of the PCd'I.-History:...
, soon becoming its secretary in Lunigiana
Lunigiana
The Lunigiana is an historical territory of Italy, which today falls within the provinces of La Spezia and Massa Carrara. Its borders derive from the ancient Roman settlement, later the medieval diocese of Luni, which no longer exists....
. He gained a laurea
Laurea
In Italy, the laurea is the main post-secondary academic degree.-Reforms due to the Bologna process:Spurred by the Bologna process, a major reform was instituted in 1999 to introduce easier university degrees comparable to the bachelors...
in philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
from the University of Pisa
University of Pisa
The University of Pisa , located in Pisa, Tuscany, is one of the oldest universities in Italy. It was formally founded on September 3, 1343 by an edict of Pope Clement VI, although there had been lectures on law in Pisa since the 11th century...
with a dissertation on Leonardo Valazzana, precursor of the Augustinian order
Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
and opponent of Girolamo Savonarola
Girolamo Savonarola
Girolamo Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar, Scholastic, and an influential contributor to the politics of Florence from 1494 until his execution in 1498. He was known for his book burning, destruction of what he considered immoral art, and what he thought the Renaissance—which began in his...
.
A Catholic democrat, he campaigned for the Italian Communist Party
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
, and was elected mayor of Fivizzano
Fivizzano
Fivizzano, a walled city in the province of Massa-Carrara, Tuscany , became part of the Republic of Florence in the 15th century thus gaining the Tuscan republic an important foothold in Lunigiana, a key region which Genoa, Pisa, Milan and Florence had sought to dominate since the early Middle Ages...
in 1990. In 1992 the town council led by him was overturned by the local Socialist Party
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
, in association with Christian Democracy
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....
. Activists already playfully compared him to a ravanello (radish
Radish
The radish is an edible root vegetable of the Brassicaceae family that was domesticated in Europe, in pre-Roman times. They are grown and consumed throughout the world. Radishes have numerous varieties, varying in size, color and duration of required cultivation time...
): that is, red on the outside but white on the inside. Following these events he left the PCI
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
.
Subsequently getting to know Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
via the sculptor Pietro Cascella
Pietro Cascella
Pietro Cascella was an Italian painter and sculptor.Cascella was born at Pescara into a family of ceramics artists. In 1938 he moved to Rome where he frequented the Accademia di Belle Arti...
, he became Berlusconi's secretary, collaborator and faithful advisor, so much so that - for Berlusconi's 2001 campaign - he was given the task of quickly coordinating the compilation of Una storia italiana (An Italian Story), a book of photographs on Berlusconi's public and private life, as electoral propaganda for future elections (as used by all Italian families).
Bondi returned the great trust accorded him by Berlusconi by over the years becoming one of his main supporters, publicly proclaiming his devotion and fidelity to him on several occasions, as well as in poems he composed and read on television programmes, which were a major target for his critics and for satirists.
In the 2001 general election
Italian general election, 2001
A national general election was held in Italy on May 13, 2001 to elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. The 14th Parliament of the Italian republic was chosen....
he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies
Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...
for Berlusconi's Forza Italia
Forza Italia
Forza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....
party in the III circoscrizione (Lombardia 1). In the campaign for the 2005 regional elections
Italian regional elections, 2005
The Italian regional elections of 3–4 April 2005 were a major victory for the centre-left The Union coalition, led by Romano Prodi. The centre-right coalition, governing in the national government, was defeated in all the regions it held, except for its strongholds in Lombardy and Veneto, whose...
he organised the party's communications and was the same year named the party's coordinator. In the 2006 general election
Italian general election, 2006
In the Italian general election, 2006 for the renewal of the two Chambers of the Parliament of Italy held on April 9 and April 10, 2006 the incumbent prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the center-right House of Freedoms, was narrowly defeated by Romano Prodi, leader of the center-left The...
he was re-elected to the Chamber, elected from the results of circoscrizione XX (Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
2). In the meantime he collaborated with Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
on a poetry page. In summer 2006 he published his latest sayings under the title "Laici e credenti: una fede comune".
In the course of the 2008 general election
Italian general election, 2008
A snap general election was held in Italy on 13 April and 14 April 2008. The election came after President Giorgio Napolitano dissolved parliament on 6 February 2008 following the defeat of the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi in a January 2008 Senate vote, and the unsuccessful tentative...
he participated in hustings in several Italian towns, as well as one in teatro Fenaroli in the city of Lanciano
Lanciano
Lanciano is a town and comune in the province of Chieti, part of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It has 36,570 inhabitants as of 2008.The city is also known for the first recorded alleged Catholic Eucharistic Miracle.-History:...
, where he declared that he did not wish to leave Berlusconi alone in government, as had been done in the past, thus leaving an invitation for all to lean on and encourage him. In the 2008 election, he was a People of Freedom candidate for Senate
Italian Senate
The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...
for the Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
region, as well as a centre-right candidate for president of the Province of Massa-Carrara
Province of Massa-Carrara
The Province of Massa and Carrara , until 2009 Province of Massa-Carrara, is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is named after the two main towns in its territory: Carrara and Massa, its capital.-History:...
. He was elected to the Senate, and he reached the second ballot for the provincial presidency with Osvaldo Angeli (candidate for the centre-left Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Italy)
The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election....
), which Angeli then won with 55.4% of the vote, against Bondi's 46%.
In 2008 he was made Culture minister in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet
Berlusconi IV Cabinet
Berlusconi IV Cabinet has been the cabinet of the government of Italy from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011.As of July 2011, it was composed of 24 ministers, 4 deputy ministers and 39 under-secretaries, for a total of 67 members.-Sources:*...
, relinquishing his post as national co-ordinator of Forza Italia
Forza Italia
Forza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....
to Denis Verdini. He still holds this ministry, and during his tenure of it he has announced the appointment of a special commissioner for the ruins at Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
and been censured for criticising modern art and architecture.