Matteo Renzi

Matteo Renzi (Italian pronunciation: [matˈtɛːo ˈrɛntsi]; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who is the serving Prime Minister of Italy since 22 February 2014 and as Secretary of the Democratic Party since 15 December 2013. He was President of the Province of Florence from 2004 to 2009 and Mayor of Florence from 2009 to 2014.

At the age of 39 years and 42 days, Renzi became the youngest Italian Prime Minister since unification in 1861, being younger than Benito Mussolini when he took office in 1922 by 52 days. He was also the first person to become Prime Minister as a Mayor. Currently the youngest leader in the G7, Renzi has been described as the de facto leader of the Party of European Socialists, in opposition to Angela Merkel's People's Party; the two leaders are together often referred to as Merkenzi. In 2014 he was ranked as the third most influential person under 40 in the world by the American magazine Fortune, and listed as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy.

Ciriaco De Mita

Ciriaco Luigi De Mita (Italian pronunciation: [tʃiˈriːako luˈiːʤi de ˈmiːta]; born 2 February 1928) is an Italian politician. He served as the 47th Prime Minister of Italy from 1988 to 1989 and as Member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2013.

Biography

Background and earlier career

De Mita was born in Nusco, in the Avellinese hinterland.

As a young man De Mita joined Christian Democracy and entered politics. He rose through the ranks of the party, becoming a member of its council in 1956, a member of Parliament in 1963 and a member of the Italian cabinet in 1973. During the next decade he served as Minister of Industry and then as Minister of Foreign Trade.

De Mita became chairman of the party in 1982 at a time when its power was declining. He was re-elected in 1986 with 60% support from the party.

Prime Minister of Italy

The Christian Democrats did well in the elections of 1987. De Mita waited a year to become Prime Minister, and then served as Prime Minister for a year, maintaining the party chairmanship. At the beginning of that service, on 16 April 1988, in Forlì, Red Brigades killed Senator Roberto Ruffilli, an advisor of De Mita.