Umberto Bossi
Encyclopedia
Umberto Bossi is an Italian
politician, leader of the Northern League, a party seeking autonomy or independence
for Northern Italy
. He is married to Manuela Marrone and has four sons (one of which was from his first wife).
, in the province of Varese
(Lombardy
). He graduated scientific high school
(liceo scientifico) and later began studying medicine
at the University of Pavia
-- for which he did not acquire a degree. While at the University of Pavia, in February 1979, he met Bruno Salvadori, leader of the Valdotanian Union
.
Before becoming a politician, Bossi was a sympathiser of the Italian Communist Party
in his early years. After the death of Salvadori in a car accident during the summer of 1980, Bossi began focusing more on Lombardy
. After two years, the Lombard autonomist league was born. In that period Bossi met his second wife, Manuela Marrone.
The Lega Lombarda
would later seek alliances with similar movements in Veneto
and Piedmont
, forming the Northern League
, of which he is still the federal secretary. He became the undisputed and unchallenged leader of the party, a position that he has maintained to this day, even after a serious stroke.
When the scandals of Tangentopoli
were unveiled from 1992 on, Bossi rode the wave, presenting himself as the new man in politics, set out to sweep away corruption
and incompetence. Bossi himself, however, received an eight months suspended prison sentence, along with Lega Nord's treasurer at the time of the events Alessandro Patelli, for receiving a 200-million lire bribe in a trial that sentenced also many of the politicians he routinely attacked, as Bettino Craxi
, Arnaldo Forlani
and others. Bossi's sentence was upheld in appeals.
In 1998, Bossi received a one-year suspended prison sentence for the incitement of violence after he uttered the following sentence at a Lega Nord meeting: "We must hunt down these rascals (neo-fascists), and if they take votes from us, then let's comb the area house by house, because we kicked the fascists out of here once before after the war."
While being Reforms minister in 2003 Bossi ordered the Navy to fire live rounds on boats holding illegal immigrants, stating "After the second or third warning, bang... we fire the cannon". http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-12348960,00.html
Bossi named his two last sons with unusual, politically-charged names, Roberto Libertà (libertà means freedom
, and it is a feminine noun in Italian
) and Eridano Sirio
(Eridano would be the name of an ancient god
of the Po river
).
of the Lega Nord
, of which he was the leader. He was then given the nickname
Senatur (pron. [sena'tu:r]), senator in Lombard, which stuck even when he was later elected as a MP
in the Italian Chamber of Deputies
.
He was instrumental in the unexpected victory of Silvio Berlusconi
's coalition in 1994, but he broke the alliance after just a few months, with the first Berlusconi cabinet collapsing before Christmas
1994.
Bossi agreed to return to an alliance with Berlusconi, which ultimately led to the (this time, easily predicted) 2001 electoral victory.
He then served in Silvio Berlusconi
's second cabinet as Reforms Minister. However, after suffering a serious stroke
on March 11, 2004, which seriously impaired his speech, he quit on July 19, 2004 to take up a seat as a member of the European Parliament
, where he registered an attendence to 9 per cent of the plenary sessions in his last mandate . Bossi later slowly returned to active politics.
at Lugano after 306 days from the accident. During that day, he met the Minister of Economy Giulio Tremonti
(Forza Italia) with whom he constituted the political agreement called "The Alliance of the North" (Asse del Nord). He also met a representative of Lega dei Ticinesi, a Swiss localist Movement led by the Luganese enterpreneur Giuliano Bignasca. During his speech Bossi spoke against the "Europe of Masons".
During the national elections of 2006 he signed a political agreement with "Movimento per l'Autonomia" of the Sicilian politician Raffaele Lombardo
.
On 17 September 2006 he returned in Venice for the 10th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of Padania. He declarated that the Parliament of the North must be opened again.
On 2 February 2007, in Vicenza
, he officially opened the first monthly meeting of the Parliament of the North.
In the 2000 year, Umberto Bossi and Lega Nord have abandoned the idea of the indipedentism of Padania, proposed in 1996.
In September 2007, Bossi accepted an invitation by Father Florian Abrahamowicz
to his celebration of a Tridentine Mass
and said there were affinities between Lega Nord and the followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
. Father Abrahamowicz is seen as unofficial chaplain of the party.
.
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...
politician, leader of the Northern League, a party seeking autonomy or independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
for Northern Italy
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
. He is married to Manuela Marrone and has four sons (one of which was from his first wife).
Birth and education
Umberto Bossi was born in 1941 in Cassano MagnagoCassano Magnago
Cassano Magnago is a town and comune in the province of Varese, Lombardy, Italy. It is the birthplace of politician Umberto Bossi; cycling champion Ivan Basso lives here....
, in the province of Varese
Province of Varese
The Province of Varese is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Varese but its largest city is Busto Arsizio....
(Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
). He graduated scientific high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
(liceo scientifico) and later began studying medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
at the University of Pavia
University of Pavia
The University of Pavia is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. It was founded in 1361 and is organized in 9 Faculties.-History:...
-- for which he did not acquire a degree. While at the University of Pavia, in February 1979, he met Bruno Salvadori, leader of the Valdotanian Union
Valdotanian Union
The Valdotanian Union is a regionalist-centrist Italian political party active in Aosta Valley. Its leaders are Ego Perron, party president, and Augusto Rollandin, President of the Region....
.
Politics
- See also: Ideology of the Northern League
Before becoming a politician, Bossi was a sympathiser of 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...
in his early years. After the death of Salvadori in a car accident during the summer of 1980, Bossi began focusing more on Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
. After two years, the Lombard autonomist league was born. In that period Bossi met his second wife, Manuela Marrone.
The Lega Lombarda
Lombard League
The Lombard League was an alliance formed around 1167, which at its apex included most of the cities of northern Italy , including, among others, Crema, Cremona, Mantua, Piacenza, Bergamo, Brescia, Milan, Genoa, Bologna, Padua, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Treviso, Venice, Vercelli, Vicenza, Verona,...
would later seek alliances with similar movements in Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
and Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
, forming the Northern League
Northern League (Italy)
Lega Nord , whose complete name is Lega Nord per l'Indipendenza della Padania , is a federalist and regionalist political party in Italy founded in 1991 as a federation of several regional parties of Northern and Central Italy, most of which had arisen...
, of which he is still the federal secretary. He became the undisputed and unchallenged leader of the party, a position that he has maintained to this day, even after a serious stroke.
When the scandals of Tangentopoli
Tangentopoli
Tangentopoli is a term which was coined to describe pervasive corruption in the Italian political system exposed in the 1992-6 Mani Pulite investigations, as well as the resulting scandal, which led to the collapse of the hitherto dominant Christian Democracy party and its allies.-Popular distrust...
were unveiled from 1992 on, Bossi rode the wave, presenting himself as the new man in politics, set out to sweep away corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
and incompetence. Bossi himself, however, received an eight months suspended prison sentence, along with Lega Nord's treasurer at the time of the events Alessandro Patelli, for receiving a 200-million lire bribe in a trial that sentenced also many of the politicians he routinely attacked, as Bettino Craxi
Bettino Craxi
Benedetto Craxi was an Italian politician, head of the Italian Socialist Party from 1976 to 1993, the first socialist President of the Council of Ministers of Italy from 1983 to 1987.-Political career:...
, Arnaldo Forlani
Arnaldo Forlani
This article is about the Italian legislator. For the similar name used as an alias by terrorist Ramzi Yousef for Philippine Airlines Flight 434, see Ramzi Yousef....
and others. Bossi's sentence was upheld in appeals.
In 1998, Bossi received a one-year suspended prison sentence for the incitement of violence after he uttered the following sentence at a Lega Nord meeting: "We must hunt down these rascals (neo-fascists), and if they take votes from us, then let's comb the area house by house, because we kicked the fascists out of here once before after the war."
While being Reforms minister in 2003 Bossi ordered the Navy to fire live rounds on boats holding illegal immigrants, stating "After the second or third warning, bang... we fire the cannon". http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-12348960,00.html
Bossi named his two last sons with unusual, politically-charged names, Roberto Libertà (libertà means freedom
Freedom (political)
Political freedom is a central philosophy in Western history and political thought, and one of the most important features of democratic societies...
, and it is a feminine noun in Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
) and Eridano Sirio
Sirius
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek: Seirios . The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris...
(Eridano would be the name of an ancient god
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
of the Po river
Po River
The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...
).
Institutional experience
Bossi began his institutional career in 1987 as the only senatorItalian 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...
of the Lega Nord
Northern League (Italy)
Lega Nord , whose complete name is Lega Nord per l'Indipendenza della Padania , is a federalist and regionalist political party in Italy founded in 1991 as a federation of several regional parties of Northern and Central Italy, most of which had arisen...
, of which he was the leader. He was then given the nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
Senatur (pron. [sena'tu:r]), senator in Lombard, which stuck even when he was later elected as a MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in the Italian 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...
.
He was instrumental in the unexpected victory of 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 coalition in 1994, but he broke the alliance after just a few months, with the first Berlusconi cabinet collapsing before Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
1994.
Bossi agreed to return to an alliance with Berlusconi, which ultimately led to the (this time, easily predicted) 2001 electoral victory.
He then served 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 second cabinet as Reforms Minister. However, after suffering a serious stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
on March 11, 2004, which seriously impaired his speech, he quit on July 19, 2004 to take up a seat as a member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
, where he registered an attendence to 9 per cent of the plenary sessions in his last mandate . Bossi later slowly returned to active politics.
Return to political activity
On 11 January 2005 Bossi appeared on the political scene at the last house of the Lombard federalist politician Carlo CattaneoCarlo Cattaneo
Carlo Cattaneo was an Italian philosopher, writer and patriot.-Biography:Cattaneo was born in Milan; he died in Castagnola, close to Lugano in the Swiss canton of Ticino, where he had spent the last twenty years of his life in exile.A republican in his convictions, during his youth he had taken...
at Lugano after 306 days from the accident. During that day, he met the Minister of Economy Giulio Tremonti
Giulio Tremonti
Giulio Tremonti is an Italian politician. He served in the government of Italy as Minister of Economy and Finance under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from 1994 to 1995, from 2001 to 2004, from 2005 to 2006, and from 2008 to 2011....
(Forza Italia) with whom he constituted the political agreement called "The Alliance of the North" (Asse del Nord). He also met a representative of Lega dei Ticinesi, a Swiss localist Movement led by the Luganese enterpreneur Giuliano Bignasca. During his speech Bossi spoke against the "Europe of Masons".
During the national elections of 2006 he signed a political agreement with "Movimento per l'Autonomia" of the Sicilian politician Raffaele Lombardo
Raffaele Lombardo
Raffaele Lombardo is an Italian politician, President of Sicily and former Member of the European Parliament for Islands with the Movement for Autonomies and has sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.He is a substitute for the Committee on the...
.
On 17 September 2006 he returned in Venice for the 10th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of Padania. He declarated that the Parliament of the North must be opened again.
On 2 February 2007, in Vicenza
Vicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
, he officially opened the first monthly meeting of the Parliament of the North.
In the 2000 year, Umberto Bossi and Lega Nord have abandoned the idea of the indipedentism of Padania, proposed in 1996.
In September 2007, Bossi accepted an invitation by Father Florian Abrahamowicz
Florian Abrahamowicz
Florian Abrahamowicz , in Italian Floriano Abrahamowicz, is an Austrian-born priest who has been superior of the Society of St. Pius X in the northeast of Italy. He was expelled from the Society in February 2009 for expressing opinions differing from the official views of the Society of St...
to his celebration of a Tridentine Mass
Tridentine Mass
The Tridentine Mass is the form of the Roman Rite Mass contained in the typical editions of the Roman Missal that were published from 1570 to 1962. It was the most widely celebrated Mass liturgy in the world until the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI in December 1969...
and said there were affinities between Lega Nord and the followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
Marcel Lefebvre
Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre was a French Roman Catholic archbishop. Following a career as an Apostolic Delegate for West Africa and Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers, he took the lead in opposing the changes within the Church associated with the Second Vatican Council.In 1970,...
. Father Abrahamowicz is seen as unofficial chaplain of the party.
4th Berlusconi cabinet
On May 8, 2008, he became Minister for Institutional Reforms again, in Silvio Berlusconi's fourth cabinetBerlusconi 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:*...
.
Interviews
- " An Interview with Umberto Bossi ". TELOSTELOS (journal)Telos is an academic journal published in the United States. It was founded in May 1968 to provide the New Left with a coherent theoretical perspective. It sought to expand the Husserlian diagnosis of "the crisis of European sciences" to prefigure a particular program of social reconstruction...
109 (Fall 1996). New York: Telos Press
External links
- Official biography from the Web site of Lega Nord.
- The League, Bossi and what comes after, biography of Bossi and storyline of the League by the conservative magazineMagazineMagazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
Ideazione. - Padanian poker's last hand, biography by the left-wing newspaperNewspaperA newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
L'UnitàL'Unitàl'Unità is an Italian left-wing newspaper, originally founded as official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party.-History:L'Unità was founded by Antonio Gramsci on 12 February 1924, as the newspaper of workers and peasants, the official newspaper of Italian Communist Party : it was printed in...
.