Massimo D'Alema

Massimo D'Alema (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmassimo daˈlɛma]; born 20 April 1949) is an Italian politician who was the 53rd Prime Minister from 1998 to 2000. Later he was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2008. He is also a journalist and served for a time as national secretary of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS). Sometimes media refers to him as Leader Maximo, due to his first name Massimo, but also for his dominant position in the left-wing coalitions during the Second Republic. Former senior member of the Italian Communist Party, was the first Italian and NATO country's Prime Minister to come from a Communist Party.

Biography

Massimo D'Alema was born in Rome on 20 April 1949, the son of Giuseppe D'Alema, a communist politician. He is married to Linda Giuva, a professor at the University of Siena, and has two children, Giulia and Francesco. He later became a notable member of Italian Communist Party (PCI), part of which in 1991 gave origin to the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS), and in 1998 to the Democrats of the Left (DS). In 1998, succeeding Romano Prodi, he became Prime Minister, as the leader of The Olive Tree centre-left coalition. He was the first former Communist to become prime minister of a NATO country and the first Prime Minister of Italy born after Italy became a Republic in 1946.