Emma Bonino

The International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy in Italy “Italian Cultural Diplomacy” (Rome; June 12th - 14th, 2013)

Emma Bonino
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 28 April 2013 – 22 February 2014
Prime Minister	Enrico Letta
Preceded by	Mario Monti(Acting)
Succeeded by	Federica Mogherini
Minister of European Affairs and International Trade
In office 17 May 2006 – 7 May 2008
Prime Minister	Romano Prodi
Preceded by	Giorgio La Malfa
Succeeded by	Andrea Ronchi
Personal details
Born	9 March 1948 (age 66) Bra, Italy
Political party	Radical Party, Pannella List Bonino List Italian Radicals
Alma mater	Bocconi University
Profession	Politician

Emma Bonino is an Italian politician, who has been Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2013. She was a Member of the European Parliament and a member of the Italian Senate, and she served in the government of Italy as Minister of International Trade from 2006 to 2008.

Political Career

She is a leading member of the Italian Radicals, a political party which describes itself as a “liberale, liberista e libertario”. A veteran legislator in Italian politics and an activist for various reform policies, she was elected as one of four Vice Presidents of the Senate on 6 May 2008. Bonino was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1976 and reelected in 1979, 1983, 1987, 1992, 1994 and 2006. In 1975, she founded the Information Centre on Sterilisation and Abortion and promoted the referendum which led to the legalisation of abortion in Italy. In 1986, she was among the promoters of a referendum against nuclear energy that led to the rejection of a civil nuclear energy programme in Italy. On 17 May 2006, Bonino was appointed as minister for international trade in the cabinet of Romano Prodi. She resigned from office on 7 May 2008 when she had been elected vice president of the Senate the previous day. In 2008, at the elections of 13 and 14 April, she was elected to a seat in the Senate, the second parliamentary chamber, on the list of theDemocratic Party for the Piedmont constituency.On 28 April 2013, she was sworn in as foreign minister in the government led by Enrico Letta. Bonino was elected to the European Parliament in 1979 and re-elected in 1984 and 1999. She served as the Secretary of the Transnational Radical Party in 1993–94 and the party's president in 1991–1993. In October 1994, she was appointed head of the Italian Government delegation to the UN General Assembly for the "Moratorium on death penalty" initiative. From 1994 to 1999, she was European Commissioner responsible for Consumer Policy, Fisheries and the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO). In 1997, her field of competence was widened to include consumer health protection and food safety. On 15 March 1999, together with all the Santer Commission, she resigned due to the accusations of fraud and mismanagement against commissioner Edith Cresson. The final report however leveled charges against most commissioners, including Bonino herself. In November 2002, she was appointed Head of the Italian Government delegation at the Inter-governmental Conference of the Community of Democracies in Seoul. Along with Marco Pannella, another member of the Radical Party, Bonino has fought numerous battles for civil rights and individual liberty, mainly concerned with divorce, the legalisation of abortion, the legalisation of drugs, and for sexual and religious freedoms. She has fought for an end to capital punishment, against female genital mutilation, and the eradication of world hunger. In June 1999, she obtained a historic percentage of votes (8.5%) in the European elections (vs. the usual 2–3% that Radicals got in the previous and subsequent elections). Her list (Lista Bonino) won seven of 78 Italian seats in this election. Bonino was a board member of DARA (international organization) until December 2012.

Education

She graduated in modern languages and literature from Bocconi University in Milan in 1972.

Awards

In 1999 she was one of the two winners of the North-South Prize, an award that honors individuals with accomplishment in the protection of human rights, pluralistic democracy, and improvement of North-South relations. For her battles and engagements with controversial issues, her engagement in the promotion of human rights and civil rights in the world, she received the "Open Society Prize 2004" and "Prix Femmes d'Europe 2004" for Italy. She received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2013.

Further Information

Welcome remarks by Minister Emma Bonino, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Italy

Party political offices
Preceded by Giorgio La Malfa	Minister of European Affairs and International trade 2006–2008	Succeeded by Andrea Ronchi
Political offices
Preceded by Mario Monti	Minister of Foreign Affairs 2013–2014	Succeeded by Federica Mogherini