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Ancona
—  Comune  —
Città di Ancona
Aerial view of Ancona
Ancona Location of Ancona in Italy
Coordinates: 43°37′01″N 13°31′00″E / 43.61694°N 13.5166667°E / 43.61694; 13.5166667Coordinates: 43°37′01″N 13°31′00″E / 43.61694°N 13.5166667°E / 43.61694; 13.5166667
Country	Italy
Region	Marche
Province	Ancona (AN)
Frazioni	Aspio, Gallignano, Montacuto, Massignano, Montesicuro, Candia, Ghettarello, Paterno, Casine di Paterno, Poggio di Ancona, Sappanico, Varano
Government
• Mayor	Fiorello Gramillano (Democratic Party)
Area
• Total	123.71 km2 (47.76 sq mi)
Elevation	16 m (52 ft)
Population (31 August 2007)
• Total	101,210
• Density	820/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
Demonym	Anconetani, Anconitani (English: anconitans)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	60100, from 60121 to 60129, 60131
Dialing code	071
Patron saint	Judas Cyriacus
Saint day	4 May
Website	Official website

Ancona ([aŋˈkoːna] ( listen), from Greek: Ἀγκών - Ankon) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 102,997 (2010). Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region.

The city is located 280 km (170 mi) northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic Sea, between the slopes of the two extremities of the promontory of Monte Conero, Monte Astagno and Monte Guasco.

Ancona is one of the main ports on the Adriatic Sea, especially for passenger traffic, and is the main economic and demographic centre of the region.

Climate[link]

The climate of Ancona is both Mediterranean and continental. Winters are quite cold (Jan. mean temp. +5°C), with frequent rain and fog. Low temperatures can reach -10°C outside the city centre. Snow is not unusual when the air masses come from the north or from the east, and can be heavy at times. Summers are warm (July mean temp. +22.5°C) and humid, especially by the sea. High temperatures sometimes reach +35°C / +40°C, especially when the wind blows from the south or the west (föhn effect). Thunderstorms are quite common, particularly in August and September. Spring and autumn are really changeable seasons, but generally mild.

History[link]

Historic map of Ancona by Piri Reis.

The Vanvitelli's Lazzaretto.

The portal of the church of San Francesco.

Ancona was founded by Greek settlers from Syracuse about 387 BC, who gave it its name: Ancona is a very slightly modified transliteration of the Greek Αγκων, meaning "elbow"; the harbour to the east of the town was originally protected only by the promontory on the north, shaped like an elbow. Greek merchants established a Tyrian purple dye factory here.^[1] In Roman times it kept its own coinage with the punning device of the bent arm holding a palm branch, and the head of Aphrodite on the reverse, and continued the use of the Greek language.

When it became a Roman colony is doubtful. It was occupied as a naval station in the Illyrian War of 178 BC.^[2] Julius Caesar took possession of it immediately after crossing the Rubicon. Its harbour was of considerable importance in imperial times, as the nearest to Dalmatia, and was enlarged by Trajan, who constructed the north quay with his Syrian architect Apollodorus of Damascus. At the beginning of it stands the marble triumphal arch with a single archway, and without bas-reliefs, erected in his honour in 115 by the Senate and Roman people.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Ancona was successively attacked by the Goths, Lombards and Saracens, but recovered its strength and importance. It was one of the cities of the Pentapolis under the Exarchate of Ravenna, an administrative unit of the Byzantine Empire.^[3] With the Carolingian conquest of northern Italy, it became the capital of the Marca di Ancona, whence the name of the modern region. After 1000, Ancona became increasingly independent, eventually turning into an important maritime republic (together with Gaeta, Trani and Ragusa, it is one of those not appearing on the Italian naval flag), often clashing against the nearby power of Venice. An oligarchic republic, Ancona was ruled by six Elders, elected by the three terzieri into which the city was divided: S. Pietro, Porto and Capodimonte. It had a coin of its own, the agontano, and a series of laws known as Statuti del mare e del Terzenale and Statuti della Dogana. Ancona was usually allied with Ragusa and the Byzantine Empire. In 1137, 1167 and 1174 it was strong enough to push back imperial forces. Anconitan ships took part in the Crusades, and their navigators included Cyriac of Ancona. In the struggle between the Popes and the Emperors that troubled Italy from the 12th century onwards, Ancona sided with the Guelphs.

Trade routes and warehouses of the maritime republic of Ancona

Differently from other cities of northern Italy, Ancona never became a seignory. The sole exception was the rule of the Malatesta, who took the city in 1348 taking advantage of the black death and of a fire that had destroyed many of its important buildings. The Malatesta were ousted in 1383. In 1532 it definitively lost its freedom and became part of the Papal States, under Pope Clement VII. Symbol of the papal authority was the massive Citadel. Together with Rome, and Avignon in southern France, Ancona was the sole city in the Papal States in which the Jews were allowed to stay after 1569, living in the ghetto built after 1555.

In 1733 Pope Clement XII extended the quay, and an inferior imitation of Trajan's arch was set up; he also erected a Lazaretto at the south end of the harbour, Luigi Vanvitelli being the architect-in-chief. The southern quay was built in 1880, and the harbour was protected by forts on the heights. From 1797 onwards, when the French took it, it frequently appears in history as an important fortress. Ancona entered in the Kingdom of Italy when Christophe Léon Louis Juchault de Lamoricière surrendered here on 29 September 1860, eleven days after his defeat at Castelfidardo.

During World War II, in July 1944, the city was taken by the Polish II Corps as part of an Allied operation to gain access to a seaport closer to the Gothic Line in order to shorten their lines of communication for the advance into northern Italy.

The Greek community of Ancona in the 16th century[link]

Ancona, as well as Venice, became a very important destination for merchants from the Ottoman Empire during the 16th century. The Greeks formed the largest of the communities of foreign merchants. They were refugees from former Byzantine or Venetian territories that were occupied by the Ottomans in the late 15th and 16th c. The first Greek community was established in Ancona early in the 16th c. Natalucci, the 17th c. historian of the city, notes the existence of 200 Greek families in Ancona at the opening of the 16th c. Most of them came from northwestern Greece, i.e. the Ionian islands and Epirus. In 1514, Dimitri Caloiri of Ioannina obtained reduced custom duties for Greek merchants coming from the towns of Ioannina, Arta and Avlona in Epirus. In 1518 a Jewish merchant of Avlona succeeded in lowering the duties paid in Ancona for all “the Levantine merchants, subjects to the Turk”.

In 1531 the Confraternity of the Greeks (Confraternita dei Greci) was established which included Orthodox and Catholic Greeks. They secured the use of the Church of St. Anna dei Greci and were granted permission to hold services according to the Greek and the Latin rite. The church of St. Anna had existed since the 13th c., initially as “Santa Maria in Porta Cipriana”, on ruins of the ancient Greek walls of Ancona.

In 1534 a decision by Pope Paul III favoured the activity of merchants of all nationalities and religions from the Levant and allowed them to settle in Ancona with their families. A Venetian travelling through Ancona in 1535 recorded that the city was “full of merchants from every nation and mostly Greeks and Turks”. In the second half of the 16th c., the presence of Greek and other merchants from the Ottoman Empire declined after a series of restrictive measures taken by the Italian authorities and the pope.

Disputes between the Orthodox and Catholic Greeks of the community were frequent and persisted until 1797 when the city was occupied by France who closed all the religious confraternities and confiscated the archive of the Greek community. The church of St. Anna dei Greci was re-opened to services in 1822. In 1835, in the absence of a Greek community in Ancona, it passed to the Latin Church.^[4][5]

Demographics[link]

In 2007, there were 101,480 people residing in Ancona (the greater area has a population more than four times its size), located in the province of Ancona, Marche, of whom 47.6% were male and 52.4% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 15.54 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 24.06 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06 percent (minors) and 19.94 percent (pensioners). The average age of Ancona resident is 48 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Ancona grew by 1.48 percent, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.56 percent.^[6][7] The current birth rate of Ancona is 8.14 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.

As of 2006, 92.77% of the population was Italian. The largest immigrant group came from other European nations (particularly those from Albania, Romania, Bangladesh and Ukraine): 3.14%, followed by the Americas: 0.93%, East Asia: 0.83%, and North Africa: 0.80%.

Main sights[link]

Cathedral church of S. Ciriaco[link]

The Cathedral of Ancona, dedicated to Judas Cyriacus, was consecrated at the beginning of the 11th century and completed in 1189.^[8] Some writers suppose that the original church was in the form of a basilica and belonged to the 7th century. An early restoration was completed in 1234. It is a fine Romanesque building in grey stone, built in the form of a Greek cross, and other elements of Byzantine art. It has a dodecagonal dome over the centre slightly altered by Margaritone d'Arezzo in 1270. The façade has a Gothic portal, ascribed to Giorgio da Como (1228), which was intended to have a lateral arch on each side.

A cannon situated near the Arch of Trajan, with the Cattedrale San Ciriaco visible in the background.

Gothic portal of the church of Sant'Agostino.

The interior, which has a crypt under each transept, in the main preserves its original character. It has ten columns which are attributed to the temple of Venus. The church was restored in the 1980s.

Other sights[link]

• The marble Arch of Trajan, 18 m high, erected in 114/115 as an entrance to the causeway atop the harbour wall in honour of the emperor who had made the harbour, is one of the finest Roman monuments in the Marche. Most of its original bronze enrichments have disappeared. It stands on a high podium approached by a wide flight of steps. The archway, only 3 m wide, is flanked by pairs of fluted Corinthian columns on pedestals. An attic bears inscriptions. The format is that of the Arch of Titus in Rome, but made taller, so that the bronze figures surmounting it, of Trajan, his wife Plotina and sister Marciana, would figure as a landmark for ships approaching Rome's greatest Adriatic port.
• The Lazzaretto (Laemocomium or "Mole Vanvitelliana"), planned by architect Luigi Vanvitelli in 1732 is a pentagonal building covering more than 20,000 m², built to protect the military defensive authorities from the risk of contagious diseases eventually reaching the town with the ships. Later it was used also as a military hospital or as barracks; it is currently used for cultural exhibits.
• The Episcopal Palace was the place where Pope Pius II died in 1464.
• The church of Santa Maria della Piazza, with an elaborate arcaded façade (1210).
• The Palazzo del Comune (or Palazzo degli Anziani - Elders palace), built in 1250, with lofty arched substructures at the back, was the work of Margaritone d'Arezzo, and has been restored twice.
• Church of San Francesco alle Scale
• Church of Sant'Agostino, built by the Augustinians in 1341 as Santa Maria del Popolo, and enlarged by Luigi Vanvitelli in the 18th century and turned into a palace after 1860. It has maintained the Gothic portal by Giorgio da Sebenico, with statues portraying St. Monica, St. Nicola da Tolentino, St. Simplicianus and Blessed Agostino Trionfi.
• Church of the Santi Pellegrino e Teresa (18th century)
• Church of the Santissimo Sacramento (16th and 18th century)

There are also several fine late Gothic buildings, including the Palazzo Benincasa, the Palazzo del Senato and the Loggia dei Mercanti, all by Giorgio da Sebenico, and the prefecture, which has Renaissance additions.

The National Archaeological Museum (Museo Archeologico Nazionale) is housed in the Palazzo Ferretti, built in the late Renaissance by Pellegrino Tibaldi; it preserves frescoes by Federico Zuccari. The Museum is divided into several sections:

• prehistoric section, with palaeolithic and neolithic artefacts, objects of the Copper Age and of the Bronze Age
• protohistoric section, with the richest existing collection of the Picenian civilization; the section includes a remarkable collection of Greek ceramics
• Greek-Hellenistic section, with coins, inscriptions, glassware and other objects from the necropolis of Ancona
• Roman section, with a statue of Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, carved sarcophagi and two Roman beds with fine decorations in ivory
• rich collection of ancient coins (not yet exposed)

The port of Ancona

The Municipal Art Gallery (Pinacoteca Civica) "Francesco Podesti" is housed in the Palazzo Bosdari, reconstructed in 1558 - 1561 by Pellegrino Tibaldi. Works in the gallery include:

• Circumcision, Dormitio Virginis and Crowned Virgin, by Olivuccio di Ciccarello
• Madonna with Child, panel by Carlo Crivelli
• Gozzi Altarpiece by Titian
• Sacra Conversazione by Lorenzo Lotto
• Portrait of Francesco Arsilli by Sebastiano Del Piombo
• Circumcision by Orazio Gentileschi
• Immaculate Conception and St. Palazia by Guercino
• Four Saints in Ecstasis, Panorama of Ancona in the sixteenth century and Musician Angels by Andrea Lillio

Other artists present include Ciro Ferri and Arcangelo di Cola (fl. 1416-1429). Modern artists featured are Bartolini, Bucci, Campigli, Cassinari, Cucchi, Levi, Sassu, Tamburi, Trubbiani, Francesco Podesti and others.

Angelo Messi, ancestor of famous football star Lionel Messi, emigrated from Ancona to Rosario, Argentina in the 1880s.

Transportation[link]

Shipping[link]

The Port has regular ferry links to the following cities with the following operators:

• Adria Ferries (Durrës)
• Blue Line International (Split, Stari Grad, Vis)
• Jadrolinija (Split, Zadar)
• SNAV (Split) (seasonal)
• Superfast Ferries (Igoumenitsa, Patras)
• ANEK Lines (Igoumenitsa, Patras)
• Minoan Lines (Igoumenitsa, Patras)
• Marmara Lines (Cesme)

Airport[link]

Ancona is served by Ancona Airport (IATA: AOI, ICAO: LIPY), an airport located in Falconara Marittima and named after Raffaello Sanzio.

Railways[link]

The Ancona railway station is the main railway station of the city and is served by regional and long distance trains. The other stations are Ancona Marittima, Ancona Torrette, Palombina and Varano.

Roads[link]

The A14 motorway serves the city with the exits "Ancona Nord" (An. North) and "Ancona Sud" (An. South).

Urban public transportation[link]

The Ancona trolleybus system has been in operation since 1949. Ancona is also served by an urban bus network.

International relations[link]

Twin towns – Sister cities[link]

Ancona is twinned with:

See also[link]

• Maritime republics
• Biblioteca comunale Luciano Benincasa
• U.S. Ancona 1905
• History of A.C. Ancona
• Stadio del Conero

Notes[link]

References[link]

Notes[link]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ancona

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Ancona.

• Official Site
• Marche Tourism site
• Photos: sauromarini.it, antoniomucherino.it
• Ancona, a breed of chicken named after the Italian city
• Site with photo, guides and forum
• Wine and Fish in the city of Ancona
• The Jewish Community of Ancona
• A little English Guide website made by the people of Ancona, to show another point of view

v t e Maritime republics Duchy of Amalfi • Republic of Ancona • Republic of Genoa • Republic of Pisa • Republic of Ragusa • Republic of Venice

Ronni Ancona (born 4 July 1968, Troon, Ayrshire) is a Scottish actress, impressionist and author. Ancona won the Best TV Comedy Actress award at the 2003 British Comedy Awards for her work in Big Impression.

Career[link]

Ancona made a one-off appearance on Blue Peter in 1986 while she was still at school,^[1] but only became a household name as a result of appearing in the BBC's Big Impression alongside Alistair McGowan.

Her comedy career started on the comedy circuit and she won the Time Out Hackney Empire New Act of the Year in 1993. She worked extensively in radio and television before becoming a household name in the BAFTA award winning^[2] The Big Impression for which she won a British Comedy Award^[3] and Variety Club Award.

As part of BBC's Big Read she promoted The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.^[4]

Before Big Impression, Ancona had featured in films and TV shows, such as Fist of Fun, for many years, as well as performing stand-up comedy. She also appeared in the first series of The Sketch Show.

In 2005 she played Barbara, opposite Bill Nighy, Miranda Richardson and Emily Blunt in Stephen Poliakoff's Gideon's Daughter on BBC One.

She was Beline in Molière's The Hypochondriac at the Almeida Theatre.

She has appeared five times on the BBC celebrity panel show QI. She won episode four of series four ('Dictionaries') in October 2006, won again in the first episode of series six in November 2008 ('Family'), won on the women's team with Sandi Toksvig in January 2010, and came last in November 2011 ('Infantile'). In November 2006 she was a guest presenter of Have I Got News For You. She has also appeared on the Channel 4 comedy show TV Heaven, Telly Hell discussing her preferences in television shows.

In December 2006 she revealed herself as a fan of Strictly Come Dancing and appeared on Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two.

In 2007, following a successfully received pilot, the BBC commissioned a new comedy sketch series titled Ronni Ancona & Co consisting of her own material and co-starring Phil Cornwell, Jan Ravens and John Sessions. The show initially aired on 25 May 2007 and had three episodes.

In 2008 Ancona appeared in the film Penelope as Wanda.

Ancona appeared as the mother of Katie and Emily Fitch in the third and fourth series of Skins.

In 2009 Ancona appeared in Hope Springs on BBC 1. She was one of eight main cast members.

On 24 July 2009, Ancona appeared on The One Show, and she appeared on it again, with Alistair McGowan, on 16 October 2009.

In April 2010, Ancona appeared on A Comedy Roast, celebrating Sharon Osbourne's life.

In 2009 her first book A Matter Of Life And Death: How To Wean A Man Off Football was published by Faber & Faber.^[5]

Appearances[link]

[edit] Television^[6]

[edit] Film^[6]

Radio[link]

Theatre[link]

Personal life[link]

Ancona was born in Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland and is of Italian and Jewish descent.^[7] In the programme "Comedy Map of Britain", she returned to her old school in Troon and talked about her earliest comedy performing experience as part of an improvisation group called "Pots People".^[8] She had a seven-year relationship with Alistair McGowan which ended shortly before they started working together professionally. Ancona is married with two daughters and lives in west London.^[9]

References[link]

External links[link]

• "Ronni Ancona". Comedy guide. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/talent/a/ancona_ronni.shtml. 
• Ronni Ancona at the Internet Movie Database
• Ronni Ancona on Twitter

Andie MacDowell
MacDowell at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival
Born	Rosalie Anderson MacDowell (1958-04-21) April 21, 1958 (age 54) Gaffney, South Carolina, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, model
Years active	1984–present
Spouse	Paul Qualley (1986–99) Rhett Hartzog (2001–04)
Children	Justin Qualley (b. 1986) Rainey Qualley (b. 1989) Sarah Margaret Qualley (b. 1995)

Rosalie Anderson "Andie" MacDowell (born April 21, 1958) is an American model and actress. She has received the Goldene Kamera and an Honorary César.

Early life[link]

Andie MacDowell was born in Gaffney, South Carolina, the daughter of Pauline "Paula" Johnston (née Oswald), a music teacher, and Marion St. Pierre MacDowell, a lumber executive.^[1][2] She is of part Scottish descent.^[3] Her family owned an Antebellum period summer house in Arden, North Carolina, which has since been made into a bed-and-breakfast named the Blake House Inn. Graffiti from her childhood visits is preserved in an upstairs bedroom closet. She attended Winthrop College for two years before moving briefly to Columbia, South Carolina. There she worked two jobs; one in a clothing boutique and the other in a restaurant/bar called "Stage Door". "Rosie," as she was known locally, lived with her sister, Beverly, and saved all her money so she could move to New York City and start her career.^{[says who?]} She was initially spotted by a rep from Wilhelmina Models while on a trip to Los Angeles before she would later sign with Elite Model Management in New York City.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

MacDowell at Cannes Film Festival, 2001

In the early 1980s, MacDowell modelled for Vogue magazine and appeared in ad campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent, Vassarette, Armani perfume, Sabeth-Row, Mink International, Anne Klein and Bill Blass. She worked with such esteemed photographers as Bruce Weber, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Irving Penn and Herb Ritts among others.^{[citation needed]} A series of billboards in Times Square and national television commercials for Calvin Klein drew attention to her and led to her 1984 film debut in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, a role in which her lines were dubbed by Glenn Close because her southern accent was too pronounced for her to play the role of an Englishwoman.^[4] In 1985, she had a small part in St. Elmo's Fire.

MacDowell studied method acting with teachers from the Actors Studio, in addition to working privately with the renowned coach Harold Guskin.^{[citation needed]} Four years later, director Steven Soderbergh cast her in the independent film Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989). Her performance earned her an Independent Spirit Award, a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress, several other award nominations and led to a series of starring roles in films such as Green Card, The Object of Beauty, and Short Cuts. In the 1990s, MacDowell achieved stardom due to the box office success of the 1993 comedy by Harold Ramis, Groundhog Day, and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), opposite Hugh Grant. Groundhog Day and Four Weddings and a Funeral remain MacDowell's biggest box office hits.

Since 1986, MacDowell has appeared in print and television advertisements for the cosmetic and haircare company L'Oréal.

In September 2010, MacDowell joined the cast of Fox's drama series Lone Star,^[5] which was canceled after two aired episodes due to low ratings.

In 2012 she is playing in the TV series Jane by Design.

Personal life[link]

MacDowell was married from 1986 to 1999 to fellow former model and rancher Paul Qualley, whom she met while both were posing for Gap ads. The couple have a son, Justin, and two daughters, Rainey (Miss Golden Globe 2012^[6]) and Sarah Margaret.^[7] She was married to businessman Rhett Hartzog from 2001 to 2004.^[7]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andie MacDowell

• Andie MacDowell at the Internet Movie Database
• E!Online 1999 article and interview

Beppe Grillo
Leader of the Five Star Movement
Incumbent
Assumed office October 4, 2009
Personal details
Born	(1948-07-21) 21 July 1948 (age 63) Genoa, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	Five Star Movement
Relations	Married
Children	6
Occupation	Comedian, Activist, Politician
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Website	http://www.beppegrillo.it/

Giuseppe Piero Grillo, better known as Beppe Grillo (born 21 July 1948), is an Italian activist, blogger, comedian and actor. He has been involved in politics since 2009 as leader of the Five Star Movement.

Biography[link]

Grillo was born in Genoa, Liguria.

After receiving his degree as an accountant, Grillo became a comedian by chance, improvising a monologue in an audition. Two weeks later he was discovered and launched by Italian TV presenter Pippo Baudo. He subsequently participated in the variety show Secondo Voi for two years (1977–78). Later, in 1979, he participated in Luna Park by Enzo Trapani, and Fantastico.

In the 1980s his success rose further, thanks to shows like Te la do io l'America (1982, 4 episodes) and Te lo do io il Brasile (1984, six episodes). In these shows, he narrated his experiences of his visits to the United States and Brazil, with anecdotes and witticisms about the culture, lifestyle and beauty of these places.

As a result, his popularity grew more and more, and he became the protagonist of another show developed especially for him, called Grillometro (Grillometer). In 1986, he was the star of prize-winning advertisements for a brand of yogurt.

Soon after this, his performances began to be characterized by an increasing level of political satire, often expressed in such a direct way that he quickly offended a lot of Italian politicians. In 1987 during the Saturday night TV show Fantastico 7, he attacked the Italian Socialist Party and its leader Bettino Craxi, then Italy's Prime Minister, on the occasion of his visit in the People's Republic of China. Grillo said:

If the Chinese are all socialists, whom do they steal from?

The joke hinted at the totalitarianism of the PRC, but even more to the widespread corruption for which the Italian Socialist Party was known. As a consequence, Grillo was effectively and silently banished from publicly owned television; yet, he was vindicated a few years later when the Italian Socialist Party had to be disbanded in a welter of corruption scandals known as Tangentopoli, uncovered by the Mani pulite investigation. Craxi himself died in Tunisia, unable to return to Italy where he would have been jailed for several convictions.

Consequently, from the beginning of the 1990s his appearances on television became rare: according to many people, the reason for this is a silent ostracism by politicians offended by his revelations about their hidden financial activities, frauds and false claims. When one of his shows was finally allowed to be broadcast by RAI, in 1993, it obtained a record share of 16 million viewers. He was later banned definitively from Italian television.

He currently performs in theatres in Italy and abroad, often with outstanding success.^[1] Grillo's themes include energy usage, political and corporate corruption, finance, freedom of speech, child labour, globalization, and technology. Recently Grillo started to encourage the use of Wikipedia as the future of knowledge sharing, and generally he is a strong proponent of internet freedom.^[2]

Political activism[link]

Beppe Grillo in Bologna speaking at V-Day.

Grillo has spearheaded several national and international political campaigns. On Sept. 8, 2007, he organized a "V-Day Celebration" in Italy; the "V" stood for vendetta, vengeance, and vaffanculo ("fuck off"). During the rally, Grillo projected the names of two dozen Italian politicians who had been convicted of crimes ranging from corruption and tax evasion to abetting a murder. More than 2 million Italians participated in this rally.^[3] Grillo also used this rally to urge Italians to sign a petition calling for the introduction of a Bill of Popular Initiative to remove members of the Italian Parliament who have criminal convictions of any kind from their office.^[4] According to Internet scholars, V–day was the first case in Italian history of a political demonstration developed and promoted via word–of–mouth mobilization on the blogosphere and the social web.^[5]

This was followed by the second V-Day on 25 April 2008, in Turin, S.Carlo square. This V-Day was dedicated to the Italian press and its government financial support; Grillo heavily criticized the Italian press for the lack of freedom; Umberto Veronesi (about his support for incinerators); NATO bases in Italy, the politicians (Silvio Berlusconi had recently been re-elected) and Retequattro, still holding on to TV frequencies already assigned to Europa 7 [2].

Beppe Grillo in Turin during electoral campaign.

On 1 September 2005, thanks to contributions from readers of his blog, Grillo bought a full page advertisement in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica in which he called for the resignation of the Bank of Italy's (then) governor Antonio Fazio over the Antonveneta banking scandal. In October 2005, Time chose him as one of the "European Heroes 2005" for his constant battle against corruption and financial scandals.^[6]

On 22 November 2005 Grillo also bought a page in the International Herald Tribune, again claiming that members of the Italian Parliament ought not to represent citizens if they have ever been convicted in a court of law, even in the first degree of the three available in the Italian system.^[7] His blog now contains a regularly updated list of members of the Italian Parliament who have been convicted in all three degrees, in what he calls "operation Clean Parliament".^[8] Grillo claimed, in 2007, that data suggested that even Scampia, the most dangerous suburb of Naples and one of the areas with the highest crime rate in Europe, actually had a lower crime rate than the Italian parliament's membership.^[9]

On 26 July 2007 Grillo was permitted to speak to the members of the European Parliament in Brussels, where he drew attention to the dangerous, negative state of current Italian politics.^[10]

In August 2008, Grillo was the subject of a report on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC-TV) international affairs program "Foreign Correspondent". Titled "The Clown Prince" the report profiled Grillo's life, political activism, V Day campaign, and use of the internet as a political tool.^[11]

In 2010, he started a political movement called "Movimento 5 stelle" ("Movement five stars"), without the desire to be a leader and to be elected, but only to join, by the Internet, people who believe in ideals like honesty and direct democracy, and saying that politicians are only subordinates of the people and that they should work for the country only for a short time and only if they are not condemned for crimes, and thinking about the problems of their country without any other interest. The movement will be truly a party chance only from the next political round, when they will purpose their name not only in some regions but also in the political elections. The five stars represent the five basic points of the shared program: Water, Environment, Transport, Connectivity, Growth.

Beppegrillo.it[link]

Grillo maintains a blog (available in Italian, English and Japanese) at beppegrillo.it which is updated daily. Comments to posts regularly top the thousands (in the Italian version). According to Technorati, the blog is ranked among the 10 most visited blogs in the world. In 2008, The Guardian ranked Grillo's blog among the world's most powerful blogs.^[12]

Grillo often receives letters of appreciation and support from prominent figures, such as Antonio Di Pietro (former Italian Minister of Infrastructures), Fausto Bertinotti (former President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies), Renzo Piano, and even Nobel Prize Winners (like Dario Fo, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Dalai Lama, Muhammad Yunus).^[13]

Legal issues[link]

In 1980 he was found guilty of manslaughter for a car accident in which he was the driver; three passengers lost their lives.^[14]

During his shows Grillo never hesitates to name firms and personalities he considers corrupt, always supporting his views with data and documents^{[citation needed]}. For this reason he has been sued several times for libel by many people and organizations which he had exposed, such as Telecom Italia.

When Italian judges were investigating the Parmalat scandal, which was then the world's largest corporate bankruptcy scandal ever, Grillo was called to testify as he anticipated the imminent collapse of the dairy conglomerate in one of his shows. When he was asked by judges how he has been able to discover that, he simply said that Parmalat's financial holes were so evident that anybody who had enough ability to see them would see them, since the corporate accounting was easily accessible.^[15]

Criticism[link]

Grillo is often criticized for his lifestyle. In particular, critics blame him for owning a motor yacht and a Ferrari sports car, both being in contradiction with his well known ecologist stance. In his blog he admits that he did, in fact, acquire both but has since sold them.^[14]

Grillo is also criticized for taking advantage of the Condono Tombale, a fiscal amnesty granted by the first Berlusconi government in 2001, which Grillo publicly opposed.^[16] Grillo commented on this issue during the V-Day demonstration. He said that he had personally benefitted by only €500^{[citation needed]}.

Grillo has proposed that members of the Italian Parliament who have a criminal record should be barred from public office. As Grillo himself has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter caused by a car accident^[14] his critics^[who?] say he has no right to represent Italians either. Grillo has always stated that he is not interested in becoming a member of the Italian Parliament anyway.^[14] Despite this, in July 2009 he publicly expressed his intention to present himself as a candidate for the PD's primary elections^[17] which, however, does not imply automatic presence in the Italian parliament.

Another proposal of his is that members of Parliament be limited to two government terms of office after which they might not stand again. Detractors^[who?] argue that this would shorten the political life of competent and expert politicians, usually drawing Alcide De Gasperi, Aldo Moro and Enrico Berlinguer as examples of brilliant politicians who served more than two terms. Marco Travaglio replied that, for that sake, also the political life of much less popular Clemente Mastella would have suffered.^[18]

Grillo is criticized as being a mere demagogue who attacks politicians on superficial issues and their private lives while unable to provide a valid alternative. For instance, Daniele Luttazzi, famous Italian satirist, criticized Grillo in 2007 in an open letter published on the website of the news magazine Micromega. Luttazzi accused Grillo of being a "demagogue" and a "populist", suggesting Grillo to choose between satire and politics, asserting the two are incompatible.^[19]

In 2007 Grillo criticized the "Memorial Day of Foibe Massacres and Istrian-Dalmatian exodus" and the President of the Italian Repubblic Giorgio Napolitano^[20]

Filmography[link]

Grillo has appeared in three movies:

• Cercasi Gesù (1982)
• Scemo di Guerra (1985)
• Topo Galileo (1987)

In 2008, Grillo featured in the documentary, The Beppe Grillo Story, produced by Banyak Films for Al Jazeera English.

References[link]

External links[link]

Official websites[link]

• The English version of Beppe Grillo's personal blog
• Beppe Grillo's fans meeting map around the world

Other resources[link]

• 'Time' article about Grillo
• 'New York Times' video about Grillo
• 'New Yorker' Beppe’s Inferno